It gives me great pleasure to see the work of Benedetti, one of the great poets of our language, made available to US readers in Popkin’s wonderful translations. Her carefully crafted adaptations of Mario’s poems convey all the wisdom, nostalgia, and irony that inform his verses in language that retains their musicality. Anyone who has translated poetry will appreciate what an accomplishment that represents. -Claribel Alegria

Mario Benedetti (1920-2009) is regarded as one of Latin America’s most important twentieth-century writers and one of Uruguay’s most revered writers of novels, short stories, poetry, plays, and essays.