By Zaira Eliette Espinosa
I add this column considering two recent, relevant topics: the recent national tributes to José Emilio Pacheco, who would have turned 83 on June 30, and the reflections on the legendary collection of Mexican Readings of the Economic Culture Fund.
In 1984, the book “End of the Century and Other Poems” was published as Number 44 of the series of Mexican Readings. Eight years later, in 1992, the book had a reprint in the same collection. From its first publication and until the end of the century, 16 years had passed. As a youthful witness to social movements around the world, Pacheco was close to the perceptions that changed in the ’80s and toward the future.
“End of the Century” is a compilation of the works of José Emilio Pacheco published between 1963 and 1980, including his collection of poems. He was winner of the Aguascalientes National Poetry Prize in 1969. By 1984, Pacheco had already been widely recognized with national awards for journalism, novels, essays, and his literary career. He was master of several genres, and enjoyed them as unique landscapes.
“End of the Century” brings together not only valuable material such as Pacheco’s letters but also a look at his surroundings, shredded by the jaws of poetry:
“Soon I won’t know who I am / among all the dead that I carry with me // We always change our way of being and being / as we change our shirt. // But the bad thing about this insatiability / is that nothing washes us of yesterday / like other dirty clothes are cleaned.”
Reading Pacheco’s poetic work in “End of the Century,” allows us to recognize the scars of injustice and violence that we’ve experienced, with a critical sense within our current horizon. The poet’s eyes become the touch of truth. A reality that is breathed no matter when it was written, living poetry that is tailored to any time—the transcendence of the verse. Pacheco talks about Mexico, the jungle, the city, the sea, death, generations, animals, wars, shopping malls, and in all his subjects he refers to a present that he identifies us with. It’s an important part of the great series of Mexican Readings that include works by great Mexican writers like Guadalupe Dueñas, Beatriz Espejo, Elsa Cross, Julieta Campos, Inés Arredondo, María Elvira Bermúdez, and others. We hope that with the new projects promoting reading in Mexico, there will be reprints of all the material to circulate among the increasing number of Mexican readers.
@zairaeliette
