The Death of Pablo Neruda

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BBC Radio 4 - The Death of Pablo Neruda

Maria Delgado explores the life of the poet Pablo Neruda on the anniversary of his death.

Maria Delgado considers the legacy of the poet Pablo Neruda, a Nobel Prize winner, whose life and work remain controversial.

Fifty years ago in September, the poet Pablo Neruda died. It was days after the coup in Chile, when General Pinochet seized power, and the poet’s funeral turned into a demonstration against the new regime. Diplomat, communist and politician, Neruda became one of the most widely read poets in the Spanish language and won the Nobel Prize in Literature. But his life was controversial, as a communist he had to go into hiding and exile. More recently, his treatment of women in his life and poetry has led to calls for his work to be cancelled. Maria Delgado talks to writers from Chile, including Isabel Allende, Ariel Dorfman and Guillermo Calderón, Neruda’s biographer Adam Feinstein and academic Lieta Vivaldi, as she considers the poet’s legacy and the still unsolved circumstances of his death. 

Presenter: Maria Delgado
Producer: Jo Glanville
Editor: Emma Harding
Production Co-ordinators: Alison Crawford, Ali Serle and Asha Osborne-Grinter

Poetry readings: Santiago Cabrera

CREDITS

Poems:
Puedo escribir los versos más tristas, I can write the saddest verses, Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (1924), Pablo Neruda, translation Mark Eisner
La canción desesperada, The song of despair, Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada (1924), Pablo Neruda, translation WS Merwin
Explico algunas cosa, I explain some things, Tercera residencia (1947) Pablo Neruda, translation Nathaniel Tarn
Alturas de Macchu Picchu, Alturas de Macchu Picchu, Canto general (1950), Pablo Neruda, translation Mark Eisner

With thanks to Rodrigo Dorfman, Milena Grass Kleiner, Vera Zamorano and Valentina Pérez

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