Testimony of Circumstances

Poetry. Latinx Studies. Translated by Thomas Rothe and Rodrigo Olavarría. "The true heir of Nicanor Parra and Enrique Lihn's protégé, Rodrigo Lira is still considered a cult author in Chile. Halfway between the figure of the madman and the genius, halfway between the myth and the legend, Lira wrote poems that were authentic, weird and precious gems. Owner of a unique style, combining irony, intertextuality, and a sharp sense of humor, Lira was an absolute underground poet, whose work was circulated by hand in thousands of Xerox copies that flooded the most notorious university campuses in Santiago de Chile during Pinochet's dictatorship. Now, for the very first time, his poems are available in English thanks to the bold, delicate and meticulous translation of Rodrigo Olavarría (the only authorized voice of Allen Ginsberg in Spanish) and Thomas Rothe (translator of Jaime Huenún's Fanon City Meu). I don't think there is a way to fully understand contemporary Chilean poetry without having read Rodrigo Lira's exquisite and extravagant poems."--Carlos Soto-Román




"Rodrigo Lira's elegance, his disdain, make him off limits for any publisher. The cowardly don't publish the brave."--Roberto Bolaño




"Rodrigo Lira's TESTIMONY OF CIRCUMSTANCES is vicious. In it, Lira mocks the literary establishment, depicts life under Pinochet's regime, and narrates his experiences with mental illness. This tour de force poem is densely allusive, parodic, and endlessly playful."--Aditi Machado