Square Horizon / Horizon carré

Poetry. Latinx Studies. Translated by Tony Frazer. Huidobro published HORIZON CARRÉ in Paris in 1917 and quickly followed it with Tour Eiffel (in French and Spanish; Madrid, 1918), Hallali (in French; Madrid, 1918); Ecuatorial (in Spanish; Madrid, 1918), POEMAS ÁRTICOS, likewise published in Spanish in Madrid, and El espejo de agua, a Spanish-language volume from 1916, reissued in Madrid in 1918. HORIZON CARRÉ is heavily influenced by the work of Guillaume Apollinaire and marks Huidobro's definitive arrival on the avant-garde scene in Paris, even if--it has to be said--the volume is derivative. Huidobro's French was good even before he arrived in Paris: he had been educated well in Santiago, but this would not have prepared him for the linguistic and intellectual ferment he would find upon arrival in the main seat of the international avant-garde. Many of his early French-language manuscripts show signs of corrections by his friends at the time--the French poet, Pierre Reverdy and the Spanish artist, Juan Gris, both being among them.