Octavio G. Barreda (30 November 1897 – 2 January 1964) was a Mexican poet, critic, essayist, translator, and a literary promoter. Poet of secret desolation and author of some precious Sonetos a la Virgen (Sonnets to the Virgin) (1937) with hermetic background, sharp prose writer and critic.[1] He made excellent translations to the Spanish language from works by T.S. Eliot, D.H. Lawrence and Saint-John Perse, and was known for the generous impulse given to Mexican new literary values in the magazines he founded: Letras de México (1937-1947) and El Hijo Pródigo (1943-1946).

Octavio G. Barreda
Born(1897-11-30)November 30, 1897
Mexico City
DiedJanuary 2, 1964(1964-01-02) (aged 66)
Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
LanguageSpanish
NationalityMexican
Genrehermetic poetry
Years active1916-1964
SpouseCarmen Marín

Biography

edit

By medical prescription, he moved to Guadalajara in 1959,[2] where he became a habitué to Café Apolo, located at the corner of Avenida Juárez and Calle Galeana in downtown Guadalajara.[3]

Influence

edit

The literary critic Emmanuel Carballo, in his memoirs, points out that from 1937 to 1945, Barreda "was the president of the Mexican republic of letters".[2] The poet Alí Chumacero wrote that Barreda "knew how to bring together writers from different trends and inclinations. He was a cultured and generous man. Nobody helped my literary education more than him."[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Octavio G. Barreda" (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 April 2020.
  2. ^ a b Carballo, Emmanuel, Ya nada es igual, memorias, (1929-1953), Secretaría de Cultura de Jalisco/Editorial Diana, Guadalajara/Ciudad de México, 1994, p. 278.
  3. ^ "El Café Apolo, Esq. Juárez y Galeana, p. 11, 8th. col". El Informador (in Spanish). 27 October 1948. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  4. ^ Campos, Marco Antonio (15 February 2010). "Entrevista a Alí Chumacero". Letralia. Archived from the original on 2020-10-11. Retrieved 2020-10-11.