Plagios/Plagiarisms, Volume 3

Ulalume Gonzalez de Leon's poetry explores the ephemeral nature of identity and its dependence on the ever-shifting ground of language. In the 1970s in Latin America, Gonzalez de Leon was part of a generation of women writers challenging the traditional identities of women, marriage, and relationships. This third of three bilingual volumes presents the culmination of the poet's achievement from 1970-79: her experimentation with unconventional syntax and borrowed texts, her masterful blend of anatomical, scientific, and philosophical vocabulary with richly erotic imagery, and her penetrating questions about identity and intimacy. Never before has the body of this poet's work been available in dual-language text, delivered with extraordinary precision and care by translators clearly attuned to Gonzalez de Leon's intelligence and lyrical sensitivity. Hers is an art of wordplay and mystery, what Octavio Paz called an "aerial geometry," and earned her many awards, including the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize, the Flower of Laura Poetry Prize, and the Alfonso X Prize.

About the Author :
Ulalume González de León was born in 1928 in Montevideo, Uruguay, the daughter of two poets, Roberto Ibáñez and Sara de Ibáñez. She studied literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of Mexico. While living in Mexico in 1948, Ulalume became a naturalized Mexican citizen. She married painter and architect Teodoro González de León, and together they had three children. She published essays, stories, and poems and worked with Mexican poet and Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz as an editor of two literary journals, Plural and Vuelta. She also translated the work of H.D., Elizabeth Bishop, Ted Hughes, Lewis Carroll, and e.e. cummings. In the 1970s in Latin America, González de León was part of a generation of women writers challenging the traditional identities of women, marriage, and relationships. Her poetry earned her many awards, including the Xavier Villaurrutia Prize, the Flower of Laura Poetry Prize, and the Alfonso X Prize. Ulalume González de León died in 2009 of respiratory failure and complications of Alzheimer's. Terry Ehret, one of the founders of Sixteen Rivers Press, earned a degree in psychology from Stanford University and an MA in Creative Writing from San Francicsco State. She has published four collections of poetry, most recently Night Sky Journey from Kelly's Cove Press. Her literary awards include the National Poetry Series, the California Book Award, the Pablo Neruda Poetry Prize, a Translation Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, Northern California Book Award for California Poetry in Translation, and seven Pushcart Prize nominations. From 2004-2006, she served as the poet laureate of Sonoma County where she lives and teaches writing. Nancy J. Morales, a first-generation American of Puerto Rican parents, earned her bachelor's degree from Rutgers College, a master's in teaching English as a Second Language from Adelphi University, and a doctorate in education from Teachers College at Columbia University. She has taught at Dominican University, College of Marin, Sonoma State University, and other schools, from elementary to graduate levels. She has served as a board member for the Northern California Chapter of the Fulbright Alumni Association and teaches Spanish to private clients. She has received a Northern California Book Award for California Poetry in Translation and a Pushcart Prize nomination. She lives in Napa County with her husband and son.