The Lost Poems of Pablo Neruda: Help Bring Them to the English Speaking World for the First Time

This past week­end, the Chilean gov­ern­ment acknowl­edged what many had long sus­pect­ed — that, writes NPR, “the Nobel Prize-win­ning poet Pablo Neru­da might have been killed [or, to be more pre­cise, mur­dered] dur­ing the after­math of the 1973 coup that brought Gen. Augus­to Pinochet to pow­er.” Pre­vi­ous­ly the gov­ern­ment had main­tained that prostate can­cer was the cause of death.

If you’re look­ing for a hap­pi­er rev­e­la­tion, then I can tell you this: Last year, Chilean archivists “dis­cov­ered a cache of pre­vi­ous­ly unseen and unpub­lished poems writ­ten by Neru­da. The collection—written in note­books and on scraps of paper in the poet’s own hand—includes a sam­pling of the ardent love poems for which Neru­da is famous.” That’s accord­ing to Cop­per Canyon Press, which has been entrust­ed by Pablo Neruda’s estate “to bring these lost poems to a North Amer­i­can audi­ence for the first time.” And it will only hap­pen with your help.

Right now, Cop­per Canyon Press has a Kick­starter cam­paign under­way to raise a total of $50,000. Funds will go towards  the pro­duc­tion of a beau­ti­ful book trans­lat­ed by the award-win­ning trans­la­tor and poet For­rest Gan­der. With 23 days to go, they have so far $32,2215 raised. But there’s still $18,000+ to go, and it would be great if Open Cul­ture read­ers could help move the nee­dle. Those who sup­port this project will be among the first to read these lost poems in Eng­lish. And speak­ing of firsts, don’t miss these relat­ed items in our archive: Hear Pablo Neru­da Read His Poet­ry In Eng­lish For the First Time, Days Before His Nobel Prize Accep­tance (1971) and Pablo Neruda’s His­toric First Read­ing in the US (1966) in our archive.

Relat­ed Con­tent:

“The Me Bird” by Pablo Neru­da: An Ani­mat­ed Inter­pre­ta­tion

Poems as Short Films: Langston Hugh­es, Pablo Neru­da and More

Read 10 Short Sto­ries by Gabriel Gar­cía Márquez Free Online (Plus More Essays & Inter­views)