Francisco Alvim [Brazil]
1938
After returning to Brazil he published Passatempo (Pass Time) in 1974 in the pioneering marginal collection “Frenesi.” In 1981, Brasilense Publishing House collected nearly all his work in one volume, Poesias Reunidas (1968-1988). Another book, Claro Enigma, was also published in 1988. His O Elefante was published in 2000. For several years, Alvim served as a diplomat in Spain, before retiring to Rio de Janeiro, where he now lives.
BOOKS OF POETRY
Sol dos cegos (Rio de Janeiro: Edição, 1975); Passatempo Rio de Janeiro: Caleção Frenesi, 1975); Lago, Moontanha (Rio de Janeiro: Caleção Capricho, 1981); Poesias Reunidas (1968-1988) (Brasilense, 1988); Claro Enigma (1988); O Elefante (São Paulo: Cia das Letras, 2000); Poems (
ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRANSLATIONS
Selection of poems in The PIP Anthology of WorldPoetry of the 20th Century, Volume 3: Nothing the Sun Could NotExplain—20 Contemporary Brazilian Poets(Los Angeles: Green Integer, 2003)
The Stone
Trees crush me
leaves and branches inside me,void of all that I am
I can confirm that plants, like stones,
go rotten.
—Translated from the Portuguese by Dana Stevens
A Corridor
An enormous corridor
that I see everybody walkingthat everybody sees me walking
An enormous corridor (enormous)
that so many of us walkI everybody walks
A corridor that walks
I everybody usA corridor walks (itself)
Light
among them three old prints
On the table, two folded tablecloths
one green, the other blue
a sheet, also folded, books, a keychain
Under my right arm
a black-covered notebook
In front, a bed
whose headboard has cracked wide open
On the wall some paintings
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For another selection of translations of Alvim’s work, click here: