Pablo Neruda was born Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto in Parral, Chile in 1904. During his lifetime, he served as consul in Burma (now Myanmar) and held diplomatic posts in various East Asian and European countries. In 1945, a few years after he joined the Communist Party, Neruda was elected to the Chilean Senate. Shortly thereafter, when Chile's political climate took a sudden turn to the right, Neruda fled to Mexico, and lived as an exile for several years. He later established a permanent home at Isla Negra. In 1970 he was appointed as Chile's ambassador to France, and in 1971 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Pablo Neruda died in 1973. His poetry was translated by William O'Daly.
A resident of the Sierra Nevada foothills of northern California, William O’Daly is a poet, translator, and fiction writer. His published works include eight books of the late and posthumous poetry of Chilean Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda (Still Another Day, The Separate Rose, Winter Garden, The Sea and the Bells, The Yellow Heart, The Book of Questions, The Hands of Day, and World’s End), and a chapbook of his own poems, The Whale in the Web. O’Daly was a finalist for the 2006 Quill Award in Poetry for Still Another Day and was profiled on NBC’s The Today Show. A National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, he has worked as a literary and technical editor, a college professor, and an instructional designer; his poems, translations, essays, and reviews have been published in a wide range of magazines and anthologies. He is a board member of Poets Against War and co-founder of Copper Canyon Press. With co-author Han-ping Chin, he recently completed a historical novel, This Earthly Life, based on the Chinese Cultural Revolution.
Interviews:
Narrative (magazine), Spring 2009 Online and Print Editions
http://narrativemagazine.com/
Two Poems: “Greeting” and “Steering the Gyre”
Audio/Interviews:
“Poet’s Café,” with host Lois P. Jones, KPFK Radio, Los Angeles, CA. Air date: August 12, 2009, 12:00 p.m. Archived: http://timothy-green.org/blog/william-odaly/. This interview features readings from The Hands of Day and World’s End, and takes a personal, conversational approach to the subject of the recent completion of the Late and Posthumous Pablo Neruda Series, published by Copper Canyon Press.
Special One-Hour “Bibliocracy” Interview, with host Andrew Tonkavich
KPFK Radio, Los Angeles. Air Date: June 1, 2009, 12:00 p.m.
Archived: http://64.27.15.184/parchive/index.php?sort=nameaz
Scroll down to the Bibliocracy entries and look for the air date.
This interview features readings from World’s End and discussion of the book; discussion of a two-part essay published in 2006, titled “A Winter’s Sun: Writing Against Torture”; and a reading and discussion of Mr. O’Daly’s own poetry, in particular the widely published poem “To the Forty-third President of the United States of America.”
“On the Corner,” with host Bryan Sanders
World Wide Radio, BlogTalk. Air date: March 5, 2009
Archived: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onword/blog/2009/03
Interviewed focuses on the publication of World’s End and the culmination of the decades-long series. This show was BlogTalk’s “Featured Episode” for March 2009,
“Insight,” with host Jeffrey Callison
KXJZ Radio, Sacramento. Air date: February 9, 2009
Archived: http://www.capradio.org/programs/insight/default.aspx?showid=5904
Interview focuses on World’s End, translation and poetry, and to some extent on the politics of Neruda. Mr. Callison brought Mr. O’Daly back on his award-winning NPR show, after a two-year hiatus.
“Translated By,” hosted by Shaindel Beers. Air date: July 31, 2008, 2:00 p.m. Archived: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onword/2008/07/31/Translated-By-Hosted-By-Shaindel-Beers. In the premier program of “Translated By,” Ms. Beers interviews Fady Joudah, translator of Mahmoud Darwish’s The Butterfly’s Burden, and Mr. O’Daly. The poet-translators discuss a variety of subjects, from the art of translation to the poetics and social forces that gave rise to the original work and the translations.
“The Moe Green Poetry Hour,” hosted By Rafael F.J. Alvarado and Shaindel Beers. Air date: July 23, 2008. Archived: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/onword/2008/07/23/The-Moe-Green-Poetry-Hour-Hosted-By-Rafael-FJ-Alvarado-Shaindel-Beers. With editor-translator Niloufar Talebi, discussed recent projects against the backdrop of literature and societal and personal forces that shaped the original poetry.
“Insight,” with host Jeffrey Callison, KXJZ, Sacramento, CA. Air date: September 2, 2006. Archived: http://www.capradio.org/programs/insight/default.aspx?showid=2442&programid=10. A live radio interview conducted by Mr. Callison with William O’Daly, discussing nomination for the 2006 Quill Award in Poetry, the art of translation, and other topics related to the Late and Posthumous Pablo Neruda Series.
Video:
“The Today Show,” taped, edited, and produced by Mike Leonard. Archived: http://mikeleonard.pictureshowfilms.com/index.php/archives/82. A video interview conducted by Mr. Leonard, NBC News feature correspondent, with William O’Daly, at The Quill Book Awards ceremony and various other New York City locations, taped on October 10 and 11, 2006; originally broadcast on October 26, 2006.
Read Selected Poems