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Peru’s Greatest Poet
By Ray Remington, Jr.
 Cesar Vallejo is considered the greatest poet Peru has produced. In a landmark literary event, his entire work has been translated into English and has been published as The Complete Poetry of Cesar Vallejo in mid- December, 2006. Author of this work is Dr. Clayton Eshelman, Professor at the University of Michigan. Professor Eshelman has been working on this translation for almost 50 years.
This is a bilingual production with a foreword by Mario Vargas Llosa. Professor Eshelman previously won a National Book Award for translations of Vallejo's poetry. With the publication of the Complete Works of Vallejo, Eshelman believes that Peru's poet will now be accessible to a much wider audience. Another U.S. Poet, Jerome Rothemberg, has stated in regard to Vallejo's poetry: “Vallejo shines as the greatest of the South American poets. He is an outstanding figure in the creative process of twentieth century poetry.”
Eshleman, in regard to his latest work, has stated: “I believe that now U.S. poets and those who read poetry are going to appreciate the immense accomplishments of Vallejo. I am confident that I have been able to translate with accuracy the quality of the original poems.”
Cesar Vallejo was born the youngest of eleven children in Santiago de Chuco, a remote village in the mountains of northern Peru. He studied literature at the University of Trujillo where he received a B.A. in 1915. He was politically active in addition to writing poetry and teaching. In the next seven years he published two volumes of poetry and two collections of short stories. In 1923 he left Peru for Europe where he was to remain until his death in 1938. In this period, although living in dire poverty, he continued writing poetry, short stories and non-fiction especially of a political nature.
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