José Emilio Pacheco Berny (30 June 1939 – 26 January 2014) was a Mexican poet,

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

writer. He is regarded as one of the major Mexican poets of the second half of the 20th century. The Berlin International Literature Festival has praised him as "one of the most significant contemporary Latin American poets". In 2009 he was awarded the Cervantes Prize for his literary oeuvre. He taught at

UNAM The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countries. It also has 34 ...

, as well as the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD i ...

, the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, it is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. The university comprises three camp ...

, and many others in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. He died aged 74 in 2014 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Awards

He was awarded the following prizes: Premio Cervantes 2009, Reina Sofía Award (2009), Federico García Lorca Award (2005), Octavio Paz Award (2003), Pablo Neruda Ibero-American Poetry Award (2004), Ramón López Velarde Award (2003), Alfonso Reyes International Prize (2004), José Fuentes Mares National Prize for Literature (2000), National José Asunción Silva Poetry Award (1996), and Xavier Villaurrutia Prize. In 2013 he was awarded the Golden Wreath of the

Struga Poetry Evenings Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) (, СВП; tr. ''Struški večeri na poezijata'', ''SVP'') is an international poetry festival held annually in Struga, North Macedonia. During the several decades of its existence, the Festival has awarded its most ...

festival in

Struga Struga ( ; , sq-definite, Struga) is a town and popular tourist destination situated in the south-western region of North Macedonia, lying on the shore of Lake Ohrid. The town of Struga is the seat of Struga Municipality. Name The name Struga ...

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

. He was elected by unanimous acclaim to the Mexican Academy (''

Academia Mexicana de la Lengua The Academia Mexicana de la Lengua (variously translated as the Mexican Academy of Language, the Mexican Academy of the Language, the Mexican Academy of Letters, or glossed as the Mexican Academy of the Spanish Language; acronym AML) is the cor ...

'') on 28 March 2006. He was a member of The National College ('' El Colegio Nacional'') since 1986.

Works

Poetry * ''Los elementos de la noche'' (1963) * ''El reposo del fuego'' (1966) * ''No me preguntes cómo pasa el tiempo'' (1970) * ''Irás y no volverás'' (1973) * ''Islas a la deriva'' (1976) * ''Desde entonces'' (1979) * ''Los trabajos del mar'' (1983) * ''Miro la tierra'' (1987) * ''Selected Poems'', ed. George McWhirter (1987, in English) * ''Ciudad de la memoria'' (1990) * ''El silencio de la luna'' (1996) * ''City of Memory and Other Poems'', trans. David Lauer, Cynthia Steele (1997, in English) * ''La arena errante'' (1999) * ''Siglo pasado'' (2000) * ''Tarde o temprano: Poemas 1958-2009'' (2009, Complete Poetry) * ''Como la lluvia'' (2009) * ''La edad de las tinieblas'' (2009) * ''El espejo de los ecos'' (2012) Novel and short stories * ''El viento distante y otros relatos'' (1963) * ''Morirás lejos'' (1967) * ''El principio del placer'' (1972) * ''La sangre de Medusa'' (1977) * '' Las batallas en el desierto'' (1981) * ''Battles in the Desert & Other Stories'', trans. Katherine Silver (1987, in English)

References

External links

*
José Emilio Pacheco
(at El Colegio Nacional)
Essay on Pacheco
from The Quarterly Conversation
Essay on Pacheco's Batallas en el desiertoJosé Emilio Pacheco recorded at the Library of Congress for the Hispanic Division’s audio literary archive on Jan. 16, 1976
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacheco, Jose Emilio 1939 births 2014 deaths Mexican male novelists 20th-century Mexican poets 20th-century Mexican male writers Mexican male poets Mexican male essayists Mexican male short story writers Members of El Colegio Nacional (Mexico) National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni University of Maryland, College Park faculty Academics of the University of Essex Writers from Mexico City Members of the Mexican Academy of Language Premio Cervantes winners Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath laureates 20th-century Mexican novelists 20th-century Mexican short story writers 20th-century Mexican essayists Academic staff of the National Autonomous University of Mexico Xavier Villaurrutia Award winners

Awards

Works

Further reading

References

External links