Still Life with Loops

Born in San Sebastian, and still living and working there, the Basque poet Eli Tolaretxipi has published two collections of poetry in Spanish - "Amor muerto naturaleza muerta" ("Past Love Still Life") and "Los lazos del numero" ("The Loops of the Figure"). Although translated into French and Italian, she has had to wait until the publication of this volume for her poetry to appear in English in a fine translation by Philip Jenkins; Robert Crawford's excellent introduction to this volume helps to set her work in context.Eli Tolaretxipi's poetry has a rich sense of unease, the sense of unease we feel about love and perception. Her first collection draws on the language of the visual arts to portray the end of a failing relationship, while her second reflects on the nature of perception and poetry. "Still Life with Loops", as its title suggests, is made up of work from both these collections. Her poetry is similar in texture to that of some of the English-language women poets she has translated into Spanish, Elizabeth Bishop and Sylvia Plath among them.