Huerta, Efraín 1914-1982

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Huerta, Efraín 1914-1982

PERSONAL:

Born 1914, in Silao, Guanajuato, Mexico; died 1982, in Mexico City, Mexico; children: David.

CAREER:

Poet, journalist, and film critic. Acted in film A la busca.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Palmas Académicas, 1945; Villaurrutia Poetry Prize, 1975; National Journalism Prize, 1978.

WRITINGS:

Absoluto amor, Fábula (Mexico), 1935.

Línea del alba, Taller poético (Mexico), 1936.

Poemas de guerra y esperanza, Tenochtitlan (Mexico), 1943.

Los hombres del alba, Géminis (Mexico), 1944, reprinted, J. Moritz (Mexico), 2002.

Estrella en alto y nuevos poemas (poetry), Colección Metáfora (Mexico), 1956.

Los poemas de viaje, 1949-1953, Ediciones Litoral (Mexico), 1956.

El Tajín, Pájaro Cascabel (Mexico), 1963.

Poesía, 1935-1968, J. Moritz (Mexico), 1968.

Poemas prohibidos y de amor, Siglo Veintiuno (Mexico), 1973.

Los eróticos y otros poemas, J. Moritz (Mexico), 1974.

Circuito interior, J. Moritz (Mexico), 1977.

Antología poética, Ediciones del Gobierno del Estado de Guanajuato (Mexico), 1977.

Transa poética, Ediciones era (Mexico), 1980, 4th edition, 1994.

Amor, patria mía, illustrated by José Chávez Morado, Ediciones de Cultura Popular (Mexico), 1980.

Estampida de poemínimos, Premia Editora (Mexico), 1980.

Prólogos, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (Mexico), 1981.

Poesía completa, Fondo de Cultura Económica (Mexico), 1988, 2nd edition, 1995.

Efraín Huerta para universitarios, Universidad de Guanajuato (Guanajuato, Mexico), 1994.

Poemínimos completos, Benemérita Universidad Autonomia de Puebla (Puebla, Mexico), 1999.

Premio de poesía Efraín Huerta: Concursos del V al IX, Ediciones La Rana (Guanajuato, Mexico), 1999.

Alma mía de cocodrilo, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (Mexico), 2000.

La ciudad de Efraín, Instituto de Cultura de la Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico), 2000.

500,000 Azaleas: The Selected Poems of Efraín Huerta, edited by Jack Hirschman and translated by Jim Normington, with an introduction by Ilan Stavans, Curbstone (Willimantic, CT), 2001.

Piel de cocodrilo, Ediciones SM (Mexico), 2004.

Antología poética, selected by Carlos Montemayor, Fondo de Cultura Económica (Mexico), 2006.

Contributor of poems to Taller, a literary journal. Contributor to anthologies, including New Poetry of Mexico, edited by Mark Strand, Dutton (New York, NY), 1970.

SIDELIGHTS:

Poet, journalist, and film critic Efraín Huerta belongs to a generation of Mexican writers who gained prominence during the 1930s and 1940s. Huerta "is best known for a type of lyrical poetry almost extinct today, one devoted to explorations of love and solitude: he fuses eroticism with a fight against injustice," observed Ilan Stavans in AGNI Online. "Throughout his sixty-eight years, he nurtured a deep-seated faith in human redemption that took him from an initial infatuation with Marxism to an interest in street voices delivered without condescension. But what is most intriguing is that at first sight Huerta's oeuvre seems menacing and even cold, but a closer look reveals it to be the product of a subtle, tender heart."

500,000 Azaleas: The Selected Poems of Efraín Huerta, an acclaimed bilingual collection, contains some forty-five poems written over a forty-year period. Of the work, Stavans commented: "Huerta's entire gamut of personal influences, as well as his pantheon of heroes, are on display." "At its best," noted Diane Anhalt in the Texas Observer, Huerta's verse "is characterized by delicate lyricism, erotic language, surreal or impressionistic imagery, symbolism, doomsday prophesies and, at times, unconventional or shocking use of words." Anhalt added: "Huerta may be unfathomable at times or excessively dogmatic, but his passion and the truth he is capable of evoking rise to the top. However one reacts to him—with anger, tears or joy—he will never leave you cold." According to a Publishers Weekly contributor, Huerta "possessed the rare skill of balancing the poetic craft with precise cultural documentation—which is what makes this terrific compilation … seem so completely contemporary."