Be as in Chile — love poets!

An exhibition of books by Chilean authors has been opened at the USUE library. Collections of poetic and prose works were presented by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Chile to Russia, Mr. Eduardo Escobar Marin.

Eight books by famous Chilean poets and prose writers now “live” next to the works of scientists. Thanks to them, the library fund was enriched with works whose authors contributed invaluably to the development of world literature. All publications are presented at the book exhibition “Latin American Literature. An Invitation to Reflection.”

“One of the missions of any ambassador is to promote in this or that country the cultural traditions of the state he represents. Here, the Ambassador of Chile, Mr. Eduardo Escobar, was guided by this, giving us books by Chilean writers. He chose the best authors of his country. Among them, there are poets and prose writers of world significance,” emphasized Valentina Alekseeva, deputy director of the USUE information and library complex.

Chileans are very fond of poetry and appreciate domestic poets. They are so proud of them that they placed their portraits on banknotes. Look through the collection of poems Sad God by Gabriela Mistral. She was the first Latin American writer to win the Nobel Prize in 1945. The exposition presents a collection of poems Remando en el Ritmo by Gonzalo Rojas, collections of avant-garde poets Vicente Huidobro and Pablo de Rokha published for the first time in Russian. Pablo de Rokha, an unheralded poet of the 20th century, now is an idol of the Chilean youth as the author of the lyrics of rock compositions, therefore collections of his poems are a real bibliographic rarity!

The attention of readers, for sure, will be attracted by the book of memoirs I confess, I have lived, written by, perhaps, the most famous Chilean author in Russia, Pablo Neruda. This is the first uncut edition of the poet’s memoirs in Russian, written in brilliant prose. The author of the novel Son of a Thief, laureate of the National Prize in Literature, Manuel Rojas, also promises to tug at heartstrings.

Many books are bilingual: in Spanish in the original and in Russian in translation, because they were published in Russia with the assistance of the Chilean embassy.

“It is encouraging that the exhibition at USUE presents books both in Russian and Spanish,” Silvia Nchama Ndong, a third-year student of the USUE Institute of Management, Entrepreneurship and Engineering, shared her emotions. “I guess it will benefit the students who speak Spanish. Many such young men and girls study at Ural State University of Economics. Every year more and more Spanish-speaking young people decide to enter our university. I am from Equatorial Guinea, where they speak not only Spanish but also French and Portuguese.”

Books by Chilean authors are presented as part of the exhibition “Latin American Literature. An Invitation to Reflection.” It is arranged in office 407 (fiction lending library). You can visit it until June 10. ​

We thank V.M. Alekseeva, deputy director of the USUE information and library complex, for her help in preparing the material.