Candlelight in Quintero by David A. Petreman (English)

“In the Chilean winter of 1984, I made my first of seven trips—so far—to the country I call my second home … I embraced a camaraderie unlike anything I had previously experienced. I discovered the spirit of Pablo Neruda on his own turf, and, more importantly for me, I was blessed to become close to Neruda’s friend, drinking partner, confidant and fellow writer, Francisco Coloane.” – David A. Petreman, from the introduction

An Excerpt

In Francisco’s Work Shed

An overhead window pours light
Onto a writing table covered
With shells and stones, onto walls
Where books are suspended
In the time of this room,
As a flotilla of sailing ships
Grazes the ceiling,
Navigating free from the shoals
And hidden reefs through the deep
Air of this man’s life.

About the Author

David A. Petreman was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1948. He was educated at Illinois Wesleyan University (B.A.) and the University of Iowa (M.A. and Ph.D.). Petreman currently teaches Spanish and Latin American literature at Wright State University.

He has published his poetry in many U.S. and Canadian literary journals and has also published translations of the work of a number of Chilean poets. In 1991 he won the Writers Exchange Competition sponsored by Poets and Writers for the best poetry manuscript from the state of Ohio and was invited to give a reading at the Poetry Society of America in New York.

David Petreman frequently writes poems about his experiences during seven stays in Chile. His translation of a book of poems by Marino Muñoz Lagos, The Faces of Rain/Los rostros de la lluvia, was published as a bilingual edition in Chile by LOM Ediciones (2001). His La obra narrativa de Francisco Coloane (The Narrative Work of Francisco Coloane), a literary analysis of the legendary Chilean’s work, was published in Chile in 1988 by the Editorial Universitaria. Petreman has published two editions of a translation of Coloane’s short stories, Cape Horn and Other Stories from the End of the World, published by the Latin American Literary Review Press in Pittsburgh (1991 and 2003). He has also written many articles on Latin American literature. He directs an annual Poetry Series at the Troy-Hayner Cultural Center in Troy, Ohio. He has traveled extensively throughout the Hispanic world.