Reviews

Never Made in America Reviewed on Don Yorty’s Explorations

Don Yorty provides a thoughtful review of both the book by Martín Barea Mattos and Mark Statman's translation, along with video of their joint performance in Montevideo at the Mundial Poetico (shot by yours truly). Certain of Barea Mattos' linguistically playful poems present difficulties in both translation and performance, as does the one you'll see performed in the video there, "La (E) resultó economia de lenguaje" ("The (E) came out of an economy of language"), a poem which resulted from Martín's fascination with the Spanish E, which is not only ubiquitous in the language but also on street signage, as in the "no parking" (ie no estacionmiento) sign. The poem reverses Perec's obsession in La Disparition, as the poem plays on the multitude of Spanish words which begin with E. 

Read the review here.

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