Prisons and Exiles

“Reading Joseba Sarrionandia is like standing under a waterfall: all your senses are opened to the exquisite rendering of a life in the shadows. Despite years of exile in Cuba, despite torture from Franco’s henchmen, despite living outside all things urban, modern, and conventional, his work is some of the most compelling poetry I have read. It lies at the intersection of faith and terror, a fault line he straddles with aplomb. I was reminded of his compatri-ots—Machado, Hernández, Lorca—but he is not them. He is his own wildly carved Basque voice and it questions long after the poems have been read.”
—Shaun T. Griffin, poet, essayist, and activist, based in Virginia City, Nevada

“Sarrionandia’s compelling and genuine poetry gives voice to the forgotten. It is an invitation to a journey across oceans, where the poet, a condemned and stateless mariner, captures the joy of life against all odds.”
—Mari Jose Olaziregi, University of the Basque Country