What do you think?
Rate this book
Las primeras voces del poeta Octavio Paz
Durante los últimos veinticinco años un buen número de poetas, narradores, dramaturgos y ensayistas han enriquecido y transformado nuestra tradición literaria. Se trata de escritores originales y activos, cuyas obras —parte fundamental del panorama de las letras mexicanas— merecen ser mucho mejor leídas y conocidas. La colección La Centena, en sus vertientes de narrativa, poesía, teatro y ensayo está dedicada a recuperar esas obras significativas y a valorar a sus autores.
La bibliografía dedicada a la obra de Octavio Paz es ya muy numerosa, sin embargo los investigadores siguen ofreciendo interesantes hallazgos y novedosas hipótesis de lectura en su aproximación a la obra del autor de El laberinto de la soledad, en especial a los años de gestación de su vocación literaria. Entre los estudiosos de la obra del Premio Nobel uno de los más activos es Anthony Stanton, quien le ha dedicado importantes páginas. Stanton se ha ocupado no sólo de desentrañar misterios bibliográficos y determinar fuentes y zonas de influencia sino también de situarlo en el viaje colectivo de la lírica latinoamericana, como muestra su libro Inventores de tradición, ensayos sobre poesía mexicana contemporánea. El libro que ahora se publica es una pieza más de la fascinante biografía del poeta Octavio Paz.
La bibliografía dedicada a la obra de Octavio Paz es ya muy numerosa, sin embargo los investigadores siguen ofreciendo interesantes hallazgos y novedosas hipótesis de lectura en su aproximación a la obra del autor de El laberinto de la soledad, en especial a los años de gestación de su vocación literaria. Entre los estudiosos de la obra del Premio Nobel uno de los más activos es Anthony Stanton, quien le ha dedicado importantes páginas. Stanton se ha ocupado no sólo de desentrañar misterios bibliográficos y determinar fuentes y zonas de influencia sino también de situarlo en el viaje colectivo de la lírica latinoamericana, como muestra su libro Inventores de tradición, ensayos sobre poesía mexicana contemporánea. El libro que ahora se publica es una pieza más de la fascinante biografía del poeta Octavio Paz.
109 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2001
1 person want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 16, 2021
Octavio Paz was one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. He won the Cervantes Prize in 1981, the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1990, as well as worked as ambassador for Mexico for many years. He left a great legacy.
However, his early years are not well known and this essay by Anthony Stanton helps to give us a glimpse in his start as a poet.
His grandfather Ireneo Paz allowed Octavio to his own library. In turn, he first published the poem “Juego” (Game) when he was 17 in 1931. During this time, he was influenced by Rafael Alberti, Jean Cocteau and Vicente Huidobro. While at Escuela Nacional Preparatoria, his professor Carlos Pellicer recognized his talents of free verse.
For the next two years he published several poems in various newspapers until he published “Luna silvestre” in a small production book. His early influences included, not only Spaniards like Juan Ramón Jiménez, but other non-Spanish writers, like T.S. Eliot, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Heinrich Heine.
Interesting to note was that he used his mother’s name, Octavio Paz Lozano, as he tried to move away from the shadow of both his father and grandfather’s renown.
A lot happened during the 1930s like the Spanish Civil War and the growing socialism movement in Mexico. He worked in Merida with the poor, became involved with the Second International Writer’s Congress, where he met a wider variety of writers, most notably Pablo Neruda.
At the heart was always the words. These formative years, the people he met and the vast changes in the world, helped define a style that he would develop over the years. His words began with playful interludes, took on reactions to world events and then focused on the human condition, a hallmark of his later work.
This is a small but insightful examination of how the poet started out. Added to the book is a list of all the known poems published from 1931 to 1942.
However, his early years are not well known and this essay by Anthony Stanton helps to give us a glimpse in his start as a poet.
His grandfather Ireneo Paz allowed Octavio to his own library. In turn, he first published the poem “Juego” (Game) when he was 17 in 1931. During this time, he was influenced by Rafael Alberti, Jean Cocteau and Vicente Huidobro. While at Escuela Nacional Preparatoria, his professor Carlos Pellicer recognized his talents of free verse.
For the next two years he published several poems in various newspapers until he published “Luna silvestre” in a small production book. His early influences included, not only Spaniards like Juan Ramón Jiménez, but other non-Spanish writers, like T.S. Eliot, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Heinrich Heine.
Interesting to note was that he used his mother’s name, Octavio Paz Lozano, as he tried to move away from the shadow of both his father and grandfather’s renown.
A lot happened during the 1930s like the Spanish Civil War and the growing socialism movement in Mexico. He worked in Merida with the poor, became involved with the Second International Writer’s Congress, where he met a wider variety of writers, most notably Pablo Neruda.
At the heart was always the words. These formative years, the people he met and the vast changes in the world, helped define a style that he would develop over the years. His words began with playful interludes, took on reactions to world events and then focused on the human condition, a hallmark of his later work.
This is a small but insightful examination of how the poet started out. Added to the book is a list of all the known poems published from 1931 to 1942.
September 22, 2025
Muy breves pero interesantes reflexiones sobre los poemas primerizos de Paz. Ameno, se lee de volada.
February 9, 2015
El autor se propone trazar una especie de línea temporal y analítica de la producción poética de Octavio Paz a lo largo de casi una década. Se trata de un estudio serio, aunque breve y debatible, de una etapa muy específica en la trayectoria del premio Nobel.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews