"The definitive version of Lorca's masterpiece, in language that is as
alive and molten today as was the original."--John Ashbery
Newly translated for the first time in ten years, Federico García
Lorca's Poet in New York is an astonishing depiction of a tumultuous
metropolis that changed the course of poetic expression in both Spain
and the Americas. Written during Lorca's nine months at Columbia
University at the beginning of the Great Depression, Poet in New York
is widely considered one of the most important books Lorca produced.
This influential collection portrays a New York City populated with
poverty, racism, social turbulence, and solitude--a New York
intoxicating in its vitality and beauty. After the tragedy of September
11, 2001, poets Pablo Medina and Mark Statman were struck by how closely
this seventy-year-old work spoke to the atmosphere of New York. They
were compelled to create a new English version using a contemporary
poet's eye, which upholds Lorca's surrealistic technique, mesmerizing
complexity, and fierce emotion unlike any other translation to date. A
defining work of modern literature, Poet in New York is a thrilling
exposition of one American city that continues to change our perspective
on the world around us.