In the poems that make up these collective declarations, renowned Chilean "antipoet" Parra provides an enlightening perspective on the modern world. Delivered as a series of five "verse speeches" during the 1990s, the poems in After-Dinner Declarations speak to us on a human level, as playful, conversational musings. Parra speaks in many registers— from puns to diatribes to eulogies—in order to expose the hypocrisy of human institutions. Though ever playful, Parra’s linguistic brilliance confronts some of the most serious problems of our time, including ecology, human rights. As the “antipoet” leaps deftly from one topic to another with unbounded inventiveness, he discovers for us a wealth of philosophical insights and uncovers the hidden connections between the ideas that shape our lives.
Translated by David Oliphant.
"One of the great names in the literature of our language."
– Pablo Neruda
"After-Dinner Declarations is a must-read for anyone interested in Parra, the power and appeal of socially conscious poetry, or the exciting new field known as inter-American literature."
– Earl E. Fitz, Vanderbilt University
Paperback. 513 pages. Bilingual Spanish/English. Host Publications 2018.
