A Finalist for the PEN/Bograd Weld Prize for Biography
The most definitive biography to date of the poet Pablo Neruda, a moving portrait of one of the most intriguing and influential figures in Latin American history
Few poets have captured the global imagination like Pablo Neruda. In his native Chile, across Latin America, and in many other parts of the world, his name and legacy have become almost synonymous with liberation movements, and with the language of erotic love.
Neruda: The Poet’s Calling is the product of fifteen years of research by Mark Eisner, writer, translator, and documentary filmmaker. The book vividly depicts Neruda’s monumental life, potent verse, and ardent belief in the “poet’s obligation” to use poetry for social good. It braids together three major strands of Neruda’s life—his world-revered poetry; his political engagement; and his tumultuous, even controversial, personal life—forming a single cohesive narrative of intimacy and breadth.
The fascinating events of Neruda’s life are interspersed with Eisner’s thoughtful examinations of the poems, both as works of art in their own right and as mirrors of Neruda’s life and times. The result is a book that animates Neruda’s riveting story in a new way—one that offers a compelling narrative version of Neruda’s life and work, undergirded by exhaustive research, yet designed to bring this colossal literary figure to a broader audience.
Mark Eisner is a writer, translator, and documentary filmmaker. Neruda: The Poet's Calling is the product of fifteen years of in-depth research, including many primary interviews with members of Neruda's intimate circle, who offered rare insights into this mysterious public figure's life.
Eisner is the editor of The Essential Neruda: Selected Poems (City Lights, 2004), which since its publication has consistently been the bestselling edition of Neruda's poetry in the U.S. He served as the principal literary translator for that edition, which also included translations by Robert Hass, Forrest Gander, and Stephen Mitchell, as well as an introduction by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
Eisner is producing a documentary about Neruda, slated to appear in early 2018 with the support of Latino Public Broadcasting. An initial, short version of the documentary, narrated by Isabel Allende, received a Latin American Studies Association Award of Merit.
He is writing an introduction for the first-ever English translation of Neruda's Venture of the Infinite Man. He is also also the translator of Tina Escaja's book-length poem Free Fall / Caída Libre (Fomite Press, 2015), and co-editor of an anthology of Latin American Poetry in Resistance forthcoming in Spring of 2017.
Mark Eisner is a sought-after speaker on the life and work of Pablo Neruda, at venues ranging from embassies to universities, both nationally and internationally. He holds a Masters in Latin American Studies from Stanford University, where he has also served as a Visiting Scholar.
