David Huerta is one the leading poets of the generation that first came to prominence during the 1970s in Mexico. He published his first book of poems, El Jardín de la luz (The Garden of Light) in 1972, while studying at the Faculty of Philosophy and Arts at Mexico’s Autonomous National University (UNAM). It has been followed by numerous collections, among them: Cuaderno de Noviembre (November Notebook), Huellas del civilizado (Traces of the Civilized), and Incurable (Incurable) in 1987 , a long poem in nine parts that encourages the reader to participate in constructing the meaning of the poem.
Aside from his poetry, Huerta writes a column for the Mexican weekly Proceso, and teaches literature at the Universidad Autónoma de México and translates from English. In 2006 David Huerta was awarded the prestigious Xavier Villaurrutia Prize for the new edition of Versión and for his lifelong contribution to Mexican literature. He is an active member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores.
David’s work was translated by the poet Jamie McKendrick who has published five collections of poetry including The Marble Fly (1997), winner of the Forward Prize for best collection, Ink Stone (2003) and Crocodiles & Obelisks (2007). His selected poems, Sky Nails,was published in 2000. He edited The Faber Book of 20th-Century Italian Poems (2004) and his translations of a selection of Valerio Magrelli’s poems, The Embrace, was published by Faber in 2009. His translation of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s verse play Affabulazione was be performed at the London theatre Print Room in June, 2010.
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