Merida Featured Reading - January 2009: Valerie Mejer
Poet,
painter, and essayist Valerie Mejer was born in 1966 in Mexico City.
Valerie Mejer is the author of four books of poetry:
De Elefante a Elefante, for which she was awarded the International Award “Gerardo Diego 1966” by the Spanish Government
Geografías de Niebla, Editorial El Tucán de Virginia, México (2008)
Esta Novela Azul, Editorial El Tucán de Virginia, México (2004)
Ante el Ojo del Cíclope, Ed Tierra Adentro, México (2000)
Valerie Mejer's poetry has appeared in several anthologies, including:
El Corazón Prestado, Antología de Poesía de Tema Prehispánico
El Manatial Latente, Muestra de poesía mexicana desde el ahora: 1986-2002
Her poems in English have appeared in England in Poetry London and in
the United States in Hunger Mountain Review and in Translations. She
has translated (in collaboration with E. M. Test) Charles Wright's Apalachia/Apalaquia, Forrest Gander's Torn Awake/Arrancado del Sueño and Pascal Petit's The Zoo Father/ El Padre Zoológico (all published by El Tucán de Virginia Press).
She discovered painting during her travels, during which she created collections of works called visual journals. In 1996 she received the Critics Award in Mexico City for her design work for a play. She has shown her work mainly in museums, including the Museo Goitia in Zacatecas and La Casa de la Cultura de Italia in Mexico City.
She has twice been the recipient of grants from FONCA (Jóvenes Creadores). Recently she received a grant from Sistema Estatal de Creadores from the state of Guanajuato to translate the Australian poet Les Murray.
As a poet, she has created visual works for other poets, such as the one recently published in France in the book L’Imperfection de la Lune by Antonio Prete.
She discovered painting during her travels, during which she created collections of works called visual journals. In 1996 she received the Critics Award in Mexico City for her design work for a play. She has shown her work mainly in museums, including the Museo Goitia in Zacatecas and La Casa de la Cultura de Italia in Mexico City.
She has twice been the recipient of grants from FONCA (Jóvenes Creadores). Recently she received a grant from Sistema Estatal de Creadores from the state of Guanajuato to translate the Australian poet Les Murray.
As a poet, she has created visual works for other poets, such as the one recently published in France in the book L’Imperfection de la Lune by Antonio Prete.