Young Ultraista - Softcover

Padilla, Mario

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798986690759

Publisher: Atopon Books, 2023

Synopsis

This book aims to broaden Borgesian scholarship by presenting the ignored and suppressed juvenilia, 1919-1923-the poetry, essays, manifestos and criticism-of a "literary genius" who, two decades later, would become one of the twentieth century's most celebrated authors. Borges aficionados, upon reading this book, will have to accept that the introverted, half-blind, erudite author of Ficciones (1944) and El Aleph (1949) was once a young, passionate, aspiring ultraísta poet reveling in the streets of Madrid with comrades and brothers, rebellious and impulsive, conspiring to direct the course of Spain's poetic consciousness. Reproduced within these covers you will see the early works Borges published in avant-garde magazines that give a glimpse of the twenty-one-year-old posting manifestos on walls and café windows, reciting poems out loud in cafés, engaging in nightly literary discussions, wandering the echoing bannered streets, tipsy and boisterous, declaring Ultraísmo the new and Dario's Modernismo the old. 

A secondary purpose of this book is to explore the phenomenon of fiction writers such as Borges who began their career writing poetry but shifted to prose fiction. You will learn how Borges achieved the "overlap" of his poetry with his pseudo-essays and literary criticism to create the unique narratives for which he is beloved. Also included are plates showing covers of the magazines of the 1920s in which Borges published, all in an effort to bring you as close as possible to the spirit and age of Vanguardismo-the Modern age of literature. 

About this title

About the Author

Mario René Padilla is a tenured professor of English at Santa Monica College, where he teaches creative writing and Latin-American literature. He was born in Detroit, Michigan, and is of Mexican and Italian descent, but grew up nevertheless a "mid-western" kid in Columbus, Ohio. Multiculturalism and mixed-cultural identity issues are central themes in his work. His poetry and stories have appeared in North American Review, The Antioch Review, New Letters, Alligator Juniper, The Ledge, INKWELL Magazine, Americas Review, Tulip Tree Review, Chiron Review, Atlanta Review, Westwind UCLA, among others. His first collection of poetry, Reaching Back for the Neverendings (1993), was issued by Red Dancefloor Press in LA. His second collection of poetry, Blue Plums & Weeds (2021), was issued by PSPOETS in LA. Padilla won a Fulbright Award for collecting and translating the early poetry and prose of Jorge Luis Borges for his dissertation Borges, Faulkner and Hemingway: Young Poets of Prose. He has an MA in English from Loyola Marymount and a PhD in Comparative Literature from USC. He currently resides in Venice, CA with his wife Christine and blended family of six.

Edition details

• Publisher: Atopon Books
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798986690759
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320