Tarumba: The Selected Poems of Jaime Sabines, translated by Philip Levine and Ernesto Trejo
In Levine's translation, we enter Sabines' streets, brothels, and cantinas; the most bittersweet details reaffirm "life bursts from you, like scarlet fever, without warning." His vernacular, authentic poems are accessible: meant not for the elite, but for the people.
Additional Info
Jaime Sabines (1926-1999), born in Chiapas, Mexico where he later served as congressman. In 1945, he studied Medicine, Philosophy, and Literature at the University of Mexico. He wrote eight books of poetry, including Horal (1950), Tarumba (1956), and Maltiempo (1972). Mexico's honored poet, Sabines received the Chiapas Prize (1959), Xavier Villaurrutia Award (1972) and the National Literature Award (1983).
Philip Levine is author of sixteen books of poetry. Awards include the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, American Book Award for Poetry, Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, Harriet Monroe Memorial Prize, Frank O'Hara Prize, and two Guggenheim Foundation fellowships. He lives in New York City and Fresno, California, and teaches at NYU.
Ernesto Trejo, now deceased, was a student of Philip Levine's and co-translator of the original edition.