“Exceptional.” —Booklist (starred review) “Heartfelt…Thoughtful and effective.” —The Horn Book “Engle’s lyrical poetry emotionally conveys the reality of being a greatly gifted, passionate, and deeply ambitious young man in a turbulent time.” —BCCB From acclaimed author Margarita Engle comes a gorgeous novel in verse about Rubén Darío, the Nicaraguan poet and folk hero who initiated the literary movement of Modernismo. As a little boy, Rubén Darío loved to listen to his great uncle, a man who told tall tales in a booming, larger-than-life voice. Rubén quickly learned the magic of storytelling, and discovered the rapture and beauty of verse. A restless and romantic soul, Rubén traveled across Central and South America seeking adventure and connection. As he discovered new places and new loves, he wrote poems to express his wild storm of feelings. But the traditional forms felt too restrictive. He began to improvise his own poetic forms so he could capture the entire world in his words. At the age of twenty-one, he published his first book Azul, which heralded a vibrant new literary movement called Modernismo that blended poetry and prose into something magical. In gorgeous poems of her own, Margarita Engle tells the story of this passionate young man who revolutionized world literature.

Named one of the outstanding translations of 1996 by the American Literary Translators Association. One of the greatest figures in Central American letters of this century. His genius is transcendent. --Arturo Arias. [Dalton's poetry illustrates] his profound conviction that the poet can and must, in his life as in his work, serve as the finely-honed scalpel of change, both in word and deed. --Claribel Alegría. This man's work hits me harder than springtime. --E. Ethelbert Miller. A great gift to American poetry. --The Boston Globe.

Toward the close of the last century, the poetry of the Spanish-speaking world was pallid, feeble, almost a corpse. It needed new life and a new direction. The exotic, erratic, revolutionary poet who changed the course of Spanish poetry and brought it into the mainstream of twentieth-century Modernism was Félix Rubén García Sarmiento (1867-1916) of Nicaragua, who called himself Rubén Darío. Since its original publication in 1965, this edition of Darío's poetry has made English-speaking readers better acquainted with the poet who, as Enrique Anderson Imbert said, "divides literary history into 'before' and 'after.'" The selection of poems is intended to represent the whole range of Darío's verse, from the stinging little poems of Thistles to the dark, brooding lines of Songs of the Argentine and Other Poems. Also included, in the Epilogue, is a transcript of a radio dialogue between two other major poets, Federico García Lorca of Spain and Pablo Neruda of Chile, who celebrate the rich legacy of Rubén Darío.

This book offers a comprehensive account of modern Spanish culture, tracing its dramatic and often unexpected development from its beginnings after the Revolution of 1868 to the present day. Specially-commissioned essays by leading experts provide analyses of the historical and political background of modern Spain, the culture of the major autonomous regions (notably Castile, Catalonia, and the Basque Country), and the country's literature: narrative, poetry, theatre and the essay. Spain's recent development is divided into three main phases: from 1868 to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War; the period of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco; and the post-Franco arrival of democracy. The concept of 'Spanish culture' is investigated, and there are studies of Spanish painting and sculpture, architecture, cinema, dance, music, and the modern media. A chronology and guides to further reading are provided, making the volume an invaluable introduction to the politics, literature and culture of modern Spain.

The essays in Hypermedia and Literary Studies discuss the theoretical and practical opportunities and challenges posed by the convergence of hypermedia systems and traditional written texts.Consider a work from Shakespeare. Imagine, as you read it, being able to call up instantly the Elizabethan usage of a particular word, variant texts for any part of the work, critical commentary, historically relevant facts, or oral interpretations by different sets of actors. This is the sort of richly interconnected, immediately accessible literary universe that can be created by hypertext (electronically linked texts) and hypermedia (the extension of linkages to visual and aural material). The essays in Hypermedia and Literary Studies discuss the theoretical and practical opportunities and challenges posed by the convergence of hypermedia systems and traditional written texts. They range from the theory and design of literary hypermedia to reports of actual hypermedia projects from secondary school to university and from educational and scholarly to creative applications in poetry and fiction.ContentsHypertext, Hypermedia, and Literary Studies - Theory - Reading and Writing the Electronic Book - From Electronic Books to Electronic Libraries: Revisiting Reading and Writing the Electronic Book. - The Rhetoric of Hypermedia: Some Rules for Authors - Topographic Writing: Hypertext and the Electronic Writing Space - Reading from the Map: Metonymy and Metaphor in the Fiction of Forking Paths. - Poem Descending a Staircase: Hypertext and the Simultaneity of Experience - Reading Hypertext: Order and Coherence in a New Medium - Threnody: Psychoanalytic Digressions on the Subject of Hypertexts - Applications - Biblical Studies and Hypertext - Ancient Materials, Modern Media: Shaping the Study of Classics with Hypertext - Linking Together Books: Adapting Published Material into Intermedia Documents - The Shakespeare Project - The Emblematic Hyperbook - HyperCard Stacks for Fielding's Joseph Andrews: Issues of Design and Content - Hypertext for the PC: The Rubén Dario Project - Hypermedia in Schools

Over the past two decades, the process of cultural development and, in particular, the role of reading has been of growing interest, but recent research has been episodic and idiosyncratic. In this biographical dictionary, research devoted specifically to the reading habits of 19th century individuals who shaped Western culture is brought together for the first time. While giving prominent coverage to literary and political figures, the volume's 270 entries also include musicians, painters, educators, and explorers. Each entry includes brief biographical information, a concise summary of literary influences on the subject, and clear direction for further research. The book provides a practical tool for scholars wishing to trace the reading experience of important Western cultural figures. Subjects were selected from the people most responsible for the cultural development of Europe, Britain and the British Empire, and the Americas between 1800 and 1914. Although selective, the sample of 270 figures is substantial enough to suggest broad, cross-cultural habits and effects, enabling scholars to better understand the relationship between reading and culture. In an introductory essay, Powell explores the patterns and relationships that can be discerned from the entries. The first of three anticipated volumes, the book is an important step forward in researching the role of reading in cultural development.