Reading... Pablo Neruda (Chile)

Instituto Cervantes Manchester and Leeds Poetry's Club returns with a session dedicated to Chilean poetry. On this occasion, we approach the Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda, who is one of the most influential poets of the 20th century. The session will be coordinated by Diana Cullell, professor at the University of Liverpool.

Pablo Neruda, pseudonym of Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto, was born in Parral (Chile) in 1904, although as a child he lived in Temuco. At a very young age, he began to write articles for various newspapers and his first poems. Although he studied pedagogy at the University of Santiago, he had a prolific diplomatic life in Asia, Europe and America. His collections of poems include Crepusculario (1923), Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (1924), Canto General (1950) and Estravagario (1958). He was awarded prizes such as the Chilean National Literature Prize in 1945 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971.