Arte para la gente: Peru’s prized poet

Yesterday Antonio Cisneros was announced as the winner of this year’s Pablo Neruda Ibero-American Poetry Prize, an honor chosen by the Chilean government in honor of the late Neruda. Cisneros is “a poet with notable influence over the younger generations” in the Americas according to a statement published by the awards jury.

Cisneros will receive a $30,000 prize from Chilean President Sebastian Pinera at a ceremony next month. Perhaps the biggest prize for Cisneros was the ideal timing of the award based on comments he made to the Peruvian press:

“I was driving my car after having gone to the doctor for a pneumonia vaccine and I was damning my luck for having reached such a senile age. Suddenly I received a call on my cell informing me of the award given by Chile’s Culture Ministry. That changed my mood very quickly.” – [ed. Translated text]

Below is Cisneros reading one of his more interesting works (to put it delicately) entitled “To make love”:

Online Sources- LAHT, RPP, YouTube, sify.com