Six Basque Poets

'Six Basque Poets' is the second volume in a new series of bilingual anthologies which brings the work of contemporary poets from Europe and beyond to a wider English-language readership, a series which aims to keep a finger on the 'here and now' of international contemporary poetry. The six poets included in this collection -- Rikardo Arregi, Bernado Atxaga, Felipe Juaristi, Miren Agur Meabe, Kirmen Uribe and Joseba Sarrionandia -- have played a defining role in the development of Basque-language poetry in the last 30 years, since the arrival of what is now referred to as the 'democratic age' in Spain and the Basque Country. They represent the diversity of voices and poetic schools that populate the contemporary Basque literary scene where a variety of tendencies has emerged in recent decades. Direct, moving and thought-provoking, the poetry in the present volume gives us insight into the preoccupations of a literary milieu which may be marginalized by its use of an ancient language not spoken outside its territory but which is as powerful and original in its production as any of the literary centres in today's Europe.