Our dear friend Cheryl Sullivan is leaving soon for Santiago, Chile. Upon her recommendation, we will read and discuss Chilean writer Gabriela Mistral’s bi-lingual book of poetry, Madwomen: The Locas Mujeres Poems Of Gabriela Mistral.
From the book jacket:
A schoolteacher whose poetry catapulted her to early fame in her native Chile and an international diplomat whose boundary-defying sexuality still challenges scholars, Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) is one of the most important and enigmatic figures in Latin American literature of the last century. The Locas mujeres poems collected here are among Mistral’s most complex and compelling, exploring facets of the self in extremis–poems marked by the wound of blazing catastrophe and its aftermath of mourning. From disquieting humor to ballad-like lyricism to folkloric wisdom, these pieces enact a tragic sense of life, depicting “madwomen” who are anything but mad. Strong and intensely human, Mistral’s poetic women confront impossible situations to which no sane response exists. This groundbreaking collection presents poems from Mistral’s final published volume as well as new editions of posthumous work, featuring the first English-language appearance of many essential poems. Madwomen promises to reveal a profound poet to a new generation of Anglophone readers while reacquainting Spanish readers with a stranger, more complicated “madwoman” than most have ever known.
We’ll meet on Wednesday 27 February from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m.
At Cheryl and Maria’s home at 4265 Cleveland Ave., Apt. 1W.
That’s the Shaw neighborhood, between Tower Grove Ave. & Klemm.
To get into the building, upon arrival, phone Cheryl: 630-430-7747.
