The Complete Poems of Macedonio Fernández

For the first time in English, the complete verse of Argentine writer Macedonio Fernández, the friend and mentor of Borges, and one of the most singular voices in 20th century letters.

Macedonio Fernández (Buenos Aires, 1874-1952) was an Argentine writer of philosophical poems and short stories that present stark dichotomies between the real and the apparent, between reality and fiction, and question the very existence of the reader and the idea of a literary work. His fantastical experiments gained prominence after Jorge Luis Borges identified them as the origins of his narrative style. Fernández was also part of the “Martin Fierro” group and influenced the poetics of Leopoldo Marechal and González Lanuza, among others. In 1922, together with Borges, he directed the second phase of the magazine Proa, which lasted until 1925. During his lifetime, he published only one work: No toda es vigilia la de los ojos abiertos (1928). Among his posthumous writings, published by friends, are Papeles de recienvenido (1930), Una novela que comienza (1941), Continuación de la nada (1945), Poemas (1953), and Museo de la novela de la eterna (1967), published in English as The Museum of Eterna’s Novel in a translation by Margaret Schwartz in 2010.

Jessica Sequeira is a poet, novelist and literary translator. She has published A Luminous History of the Palm, Jazz of Affections, Taal, Golden Jackal / Chacal Dorado, A Furious Oyster, Rhombus and Oval, and Other Paradises. She has translated more than thirty books by Latin American authors, including Gabriela Mistral, Winétt de Rokha, Teresa Wilms Montt, Sara Gallardo and Vlady Kociancich. As part of the musical group Lux Violeta, she creates songs with poetic lyrics and Latin American and Asian rhythms. She lives in Santiago, Chile.