The Poems of Vikram Babu

Poetry. Translated from the Spanish by Electa Arenal and Beatrix Gates. In this uniquely provocative collection, award-winning Spanish poet Jesus Aguado adopts the voice of Vikram Babu, a seventeenth century Indian mystic and basket-weaver who guides the reader on an irreverent and enjoyable truth-seeking mission. Each of these fifty fable-like poems ends with Vikram Babu posing a question for his audience, inviting us to take part in the work and let our own responses transform the meaning of the poem. Through the wry observations of his invented persona, Aguado gently unmasks human frailty and hypocrisy, revealing a world of twisted contradictions. In THE POEMS OF VIKRAM BABU, Aguado extends us an affable, whimsical welcome to a complex universe, an unforgettable world of slanted delight.