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La canzone disperata (Pablo Neruda), by zannaza69.
There are things in my music collection that I find embarassing, and might even apologize for. But I'll never apologize for having Pablo Neruda in my bookcase. I was introduced to Neruda at the age of 20 by Hector Ahumada, a Chilean poet living in Salt Lake City, who let me his copy of Isla Negra. It was spring, and I read it mostly at bus stops, surrounded by half-thawed snow, mud, budding trees and birds. Maybe it was that charged-up feeling of spring, or Neruda's talent for describing the cosmic with catalogs of mundane objects, or a juxatposition of the two, but his poems felt like little captions that floated in the air and described the world as I was experiencing it; my favorite way to read Neruda is still out-of-doors, though preferably at a table in front of a coffee shop, though I won't hesitate to read Neruda on the MetroLink, too.
This Wednesday (March 4), Argentine poet and physician Carlos Pappalardo will read Neruda's poetry in the original Spanish, with a chorus of other readers following suit in French, Italian and English. Pappalardo, who has been deeply involved with the St. Louis Poetry Center, is the author of several books, including Ahimsa and Humanism & Verse. He was also a longtime member of Doctors Without Borders (Neruda definitely would have approved) and will close the night with readings of his own work. The reading is at the Regional Arts Commission, 6128 Delmar, right across from the Pageant; the reading is at 6:30 p.m.
In other local literary news: Pudd'nhead Books (37 Old Orchard in Webster, 314-918-1069) is Twittering. Follow them, and you will not only hear about sales and events, but you'll be treated to the humor and smarts of proprietor Nikki Furrer, she who has unapologetically blocked Books-a-Million as her Twitter follower. For more about Nikki and the bookstore, see our profile here. --Stefene Russell
