PARRA, NICANOR

born Sept. 5, 1914, San Fabian, Chile one of the most important Latin-American poets of his time, the originator of so-called antipoetry (poetry that opposes traditional poetic techniques or styles). Parra studied mathematics and physics at the University of Chile in Santiago, at Brown University, Providence, R.I., U.S. (194345), and at the University of Oxford. From 1952 he taught theoretical physics at the University of Chile. Although Parra later renounced his first book of poetry, Cancionero sin nombre (1937; Songbook Without a Name), his use of colloquial, often irreverent language, the light treatment of classical forms, and his humorous tone in that volume presage his later antipoetry. With Poemas y antipoemas (1954; Poems and Antipoems), Parra's attempts at making poetry more accessible to the masses gained him national and international fame. These verses treat common, everyday problems of a grotesque and often absurd world in clear, direct language and with black humour and ironic vision. After experimenting with the local speech and humour of the Chilean lower classes in La cueca larga (1958; The Long Cueca ), Parra published Versos de saln (1962; Verses of the Salon), which continued the antipoetic techniques of his earlier works. Obra gruesa (1969; Big Work) is a collection of Parra's poems, excluding his first book. Its tone of dissatisfaction is intensified by the use of prosaic language, clich, and ironic wordplay. In 1967 Parra began to write experimental short poems that he later published as a collection of postcards entitled Artefactos (1972; Artifacts). In these he attempted to reduce language to its simplest form without destroying its social and philosophical impact. Later collections include Sermones y prdicas del Cristo de Elqui (1977; Sermons and Homilies of the Christ of Elqui) and Hojas de Parra (1985; Leaves of Parra).