A powerful account of the symbolic murder of the poet’s mother.

From the first poem in this bilingual edition of The Men Who Killed My Mother, it is evident that the mother in “Our Mother” (“Nuestra Madre”) is not only Fernando Valverde’s. The soulful refrain of “mother/madre” might be anyone’s mother whose suffering is palpable in a world legislated over by men. Issues such as orphanhood, abuse, violence, manipulation, and fear are treated with the rawness of someone who has tasted the venom of betrayal. This is a lyrical dark garden of faith and family, exposing treachery and cruelty, and anger at injustice, from the voice of a son with deep love for his mother—for her honor, dignity, and dreams. 

Valverde leads us into a forest full of wolves and serpents under the governance of civil society. He has received many awards for his poetry and is recognized as one of the most highly acclaimed poets of his generation in Spain. This heartfelt English translation by Gordon E. McNeer captures the power of Valverde’s poetic cadences and its haunting evocative lyricism.

"I have not read any book of poetry in years that matches the ambition and originality of Fernando Valverde. These poems are a reminder of what we lived through and what kind of poetry we have been missing from our lives." - Charles Simic, former United States Poet Laureate, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for The World Doesn’t End (1989)

"His poems are seemingly plain spoken, and in their accessibility they resonate with emotional depth and a deeply humane intelligence. Fernando Valverde is an award-winning poet widely recognized in the Spanish-speaking world and already one of the most significant voices of his generation. His impact on American poets is evidence of his major 
significance: He is simply the most important connection between authors from the United States and the Spanish world." - Natasha Trethewey, former United States Poet Laureate, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Native Guard (2007) and is the author of the highly praised memoir Memorial Drive