Symbolics

The publication of Symbolics (1911), José María Eguren’s first book of poems, marked a before and after for his contemporaries and it has been since then widely regarded as a major turning point into contemporary Peruvian poetry. Symbolics has directly influenced the style and vision of several generations of poets and writers, who have unanimously recognized Eguren as a leading voice of his generation and have paid him sincere homage for over a century now. The 34 poems of Symbolics are among Eguren’s most influential and important work and remain as the best introduction to his poetic universe.

This dual language edition, the first English translation of any of Eguren’s works, has carefully intended to preserve both the form and the content of the poems in translation from the original Spanish language. It intends to restitute the figure of one of the most uniquely crafted Latin American voices at the turn of the 20th century, and open up a window to his timeless past. 

José María Eguren (Lima, 1874 – 1942) remains as one of the most important Peruvian poets of all times. His highly original work marks one of the most interesting transitions between Modernismo and the Avant-garde movements in Latin American poetry. He exerted a major influence on a whole generation of poets, writers and thinkers including José Carlos Mariategui, Cesar Vallejo and Martín Adán. He was also admired and recognized in life as an important poet by figures such as Gabriela Mistral, Juan Ramón Jiménez and Jorge Luis Borges. His complete works are regarded as classics of Latin American literature and have been published in Peru, Argentina, Venezuela and Spain.

José Garay Boszeta (Lima, 1985) is a writer, translator and language laborer, born and raised in Lima, Peru. He studied programs in Economics and Philosophy at the National University of San Marcos (UNMSM). His work in translation aims to reevaluate Latin American narratives and restore their historical content for English speaking audiences around the world. His current projects include the translation of the works of José María Eguren and Martín Adán, among others. He currently lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife, Erin and their dogs, Willow and Remy.