In Search of Neruda
Poetry and the natural world have been pre-eminent in shaping the culture and character of Chile like no other Latin American Country. 'The thin country' as Pablo Neruda called it, defies our cartographic notions - squeezed between the Andes and the Pacific, never more than 180 kms wide and with a coastline, which stretches over 4000 kms. In 1999, I made my first visit to Chile and met with Sergio Munoz, a young poet from Valparaiso who was reading his poems aloud to Chileans gathered on a beach in Cartagena. He and the other five poets were continuing a passionate literary tradition long held precious in Chile and one which gained a worldwide audience through the prodigious writings of Chile’s two Nobel Prize winning Poets, Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda.
Drawing on the powerful elements of Chilean landscapes and culture interwoven with themes from the poetry of Pablo Neruda, this ongoing project seeks to celebrate the passion, spirit and tradition of a country uniquely at the heart of Latin America.
