The Great Zoo

A fantastical collection of poems by revolutionary Afro-Cuban poet Nicolas Guillen presented in a Spanish-English bilingual edition.Born in Cuba to parents of African and European ancestry, Nicolas Guillen worked in printing presses and studied law before moving into Havana's literary scene. A virtuosic maker and breaker of forms, Guillen rose to fame by transforming a popular form of Cuban music into poetry that called attention to the experience of Afro-Cuban people, and he continued to interweave his artistic and political commitments as he traveled the world.Originally published in Spanish in 1967, The Great Zoo is a humorous and biting collection of poems that presents a fantastical bestiary of ideas, social concerns, landscapes, phenomena, and more. The "animals" on view in this menagerie include the Mississippi and Amazon Rivers, clouds from different countries, a singing guitar, a temperamental atomic bomb, blue-pelted police, a hurricane, the KKK, and the North Star, among many others. Translated by Aaron Coleman with a keen understanding of the contexts of colonial racialization, oppression, and exoticism, this bilingual edition stands as a testament to Guillen's carnivalesque vision.

Product details

• Authors: Aaron Coleman, Nicolas Guillen, Nicolás Guillén, Nicolßs/ Coleman GuillTn
• Assisted by: Aaron Coleman (Translation)
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English, Spanish
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.10.2024
• EAN: 9780226834795
• ISBN: 978-0-226-83479-5
• No. of pages: 96
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 240 mm x 10 mm
• Series: Phoenix Poets
• Subjects: Fiction > Poetry, drama; POETRY / General, POETRY / Caribbean & Latin American, Literature: history & criticism, Literature: history and criticism, Political activism / Political engagement, POETRY / Subjects & Themes / Political & Protest