Craft: Homero Aridjis

Homero Aridjis (b. 1940) is a Mexican poet, a major figure in Latin America, but not well-known among American readers. He was born in Contepec, Michoacán, and has produced an astounding 51 books of poetry and prose. He also served as Mexico’s ambassador to Switzerland, the Netherlands, and to UNESCO.

Aridjis

A new book of translations of his poetry, Self-Portrait in the Zone of Silence, is new from New Directions. Aridjis’s poems are physical, contemplative, and arise from Mexico’s syncretism of Spanish, Aztec, Mixtec, Zapotec, and Mayan cultures. His work was praised often by everyone from Kenneth Rexroth, Seamus Heaney, Juan Rulfo, and Octavio Paz.