Neruda and Us Adolescents of 1973 (Chilean Poetry in the Southern Provinces, 1975 - 1977)

Abstract

The day Pablo Neruda passed away, I was at my parents' house on Quinchao Island, Chiloé, in the rural locality of Changüitad. I did not learn of his death until the following day through a brief radio news report (incidentally, radio was the only means available to us peasants to learn about world events). At 15 years old, I barely knew Neruda, only through a few poems I had read in school texts (“Poem 20”, and “Ode to the Sea” are titles that come to mind immediately). The poet had been in Chiloé, in Ancud, in 1923; but at that time, I did not know. How could I? There was not a single book by or about the poet in school or at home. Only later did I learn that Neruda's death marked the end of an entire era of “founders” and guiding figures of Chilean poetry in the 20th century (excerpt from the article).