Decades ago, about my first book, in
Artful Dodge Reviews, Vol. 3 No. 1
On El Evasionista/The Escape Artist
by Jorge Etcheverry
Let’s begin by saying that when he is
at his best, Jorge Etcheverry’s poetry is full of wide-sweeping imagery, the
unexpected line or metaphor that is built upon and intensified to climax. It is
a dynamic poetry that takes no shortcuts in its powerful swirls as it explores
the philosophical problems with which the poet is concerned.
El Evasionista/The Escape Artist is
the first of three planned bilingual editions of Chilean work to be published
in 1981 by Ediciones Cordillera, a publishing house established by left-wing
writers in exile, living in Ottawa, Canada. In Part One of El Evasionista,
Etcheverry’s verse is unfortunately at its least effective. Although the
philosophical concerns of the writer are present, there is no centering point
for the reader, especially one ignorant of the socio-cultural background
against which the poetry is set. Part of the problem may be the translation,
which, though accurate, suffers at times from being too literal and not truly
effective in rendering the sound and movement of the original. This is, of
course, in part unavoidable.
In Part Two, the poetic force takes
charge, when Etcheverry yields “before the ancient forces of sex.” Here
Etcheverry’s poetry quits groping and he finds a focus around which his
powerful imagery can revolve. In Part Three of El Evasionista, Etcheverry’s
verse approaches prose-poetry as he returns to less sharply etched social
themes, “linked to a revolution which is perhaps a dream.” The book ends with
“Epitaph for the School of Santiago,” a poem arising from his experience of
exile, where he acknowledges “the passage of time,” with dignity and
resignation, and a certain sense of condescension toward the world he now finds
himself in.
We at Artful Dodge look forward to
further books in the series of Chilean emigre writers. Ediciones Cordillera
will soon issue Historias del Reino Vigilado/Stories from a Guarded Kingdom by
Nain Nomez, and an anthology of Canadian poetry on Latin America, to include
poems by Al Purdy, Margaret Atwood, Patrick Lane, Susan Musgrave, and others.
—Chris Kearns & Daniel Bourne
