Jorge Guillen, one of the greatest poets of the Generation of '27, went into voluntary exile during the Spanish Civil War, and spent many years in the US and Latin America.
While some poems in Horses in the Air were written in America, many of them had never been translated into English before. Guillen's view of Europe from the New World, his experience as an exile and an immigrant, as well as his encounters with Spanish America provide insights into our shared culture that are fresh and relevant today.
"This is the best possible introduction to a major Spanish poet. Jorge Guillen sang memorably of the joys and sorrows of mortal existence: of life together and life alone. His luminous intelligence, cordiality toward the reader, vast knowledge of literature, and epigrammatic wit are governed by an impeccable sense of form. In selecting from his work and capturing his voice, Cola Franzen has proven herself, once again, the most graceful and faithful of translators." —Christopher Maurer
"A noteworthy retrospective of an overlooked and undervalued poet."—Library Journal
". . . well represents the breadth and depth of the poet's marvelous achievement." —Kirkus Reviews
Jorge Guillén was born in Valladolid, Old Castile. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 he was arrested and detained briefly in Pamplona as a political prisoner. He left Spain in 1938 to go into voluntary exile in the United States, where he remained until after the death of Franco. In 1978 he returned to live in Spain. He died in Málaga in 1984.