Description
The Expected Guest
Book Summary
This volume brings together for the first time the complete poetic works of Alberto Santamaría, spanning over a decade of publications and including unpublished texts. The reader will encounter a bastard poetry that hybridizes philosophy, politics, and everyday language to dissect reality from an uncomfortable and estranged perspective. A demanding work that seeks clarity in the dark and expects active participation from the reader in the construction of meaning.
What is it about?
The Expected Guest compiles the five books of poems published by Alberto Santamaría between 2005 and 2016, along with a selection of unpublished poems. The work is characterized by a borderline writing style where poetry intersects with philosophical essays and political analysis, giving rise to a poetic voice that distorts reality to better understand it. The poems use contemporary language and circumstances to poke at the contradictions of the present, without offering comfort or easy answers. The author proposes a poetry that is not limited to description, but rather challenges the reader, inviting them to complete the meaning of the text: "the perfect metaphor needs water to grow."
Main Themes
- The hybridization of poetry, philosophy, and politics as a method of aesthetic inquiry.
- The distortion of everyday reality as a tool to reveal its fissures and contradictions.
- The estrangement of language and gaze as a path to achieve a paradoxical clarity in darkness.
- Poetic discomfort as a form of resistance against established discourses.
- The active role of the reader in the construction of poetic meaning.
Who is it recommended for?
For readers of contemporary poetry interested in proposals that transcend genre boundaries and delve into the territory of critical thought. Especially indicated for those who seek a demanding poetry that does not renounce formal complexity or commitment to its time, and who values experimentation with language as a vehicle for philosophical and political exploration.
What this book offers
- A complete and chronological vision of Alberto Santamaría's poetic evolution over more than a decade.
- Unpublished texts that complement and enrich the author's known corpus.
- A reading experience that challenges poetic conventions and stimulates critical thinking.
- The opportunity to delve into a work that hybridizes genres and disciplines with intelligence and sensitivity.
Technical Specifications
- Author: Santamaría Fernández, Alberto
- Publisher: La Bella Varsovia
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: POETRY, POETRY BY INDIVIDUAL POETS
- Collection: POETRY
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication Date: October 2016
- Number of pages: 280
- Weight: 370 g
Editorial Review
The Expected Guest presents itself as a reference work for those who follow the most daring contemporary Spanish poetry. Bringing together Alberto Santamaría's poetic production in a single volume allows one to appreciate the coherence of a voice that has managed to maintain its commitment to a borderline, uncomfortable, and deeply reflective writing style. It is a book that does not seek to please, but to challenge, and will find its audience among those readers willing to let themselves be questioned by poetry.