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'The Son of Titicaca,' new biography of Peruvian poet Oquendo de Amat, is published
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Culture & Society

'The Son of Titicaca,' new biography of Peruvian poet Oquendo de Amat, is published

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • A new biography, 'El hijo del Titicaca,' sheds light on the life of avant-garde Peruvian poet Carlos Oquendo de Amat.
  • The book, by Rodolfo Milla, includes a newly discovered baptismal record that rectifies the poet's paternal origins.
  • Milla aimed to make Oquendo's life accessible to a wider audience, filling a gap in biographical works.

A new biography, 'El hijo del Titicaca' (The Son of Titicaca), offers a fresh look at the life of Carlos Oquendo de Amat, a significant figure in Peruvian avant-garde poetry. Written by journalist and writer Rodolfo Milla, the book aims to bring the poet, known for his work 'Cinco metros de poemas' (Five Meters of Poems), to a broader readership.

one of the most important writers in the country, if not the only one, who did not have a biography in a popular edition, for a non-specialized reader

— Rodolfo MillaExplaining his motivation for writing a more accessible biography of Oquendo de Amat.

Milla's work, published by Lluvia Editores and the Municipalidad Provincial de Puno, presents key episodes from the life of Oquendo de Amat, who was born in 1905 in Puno, a city on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The author previously published a two-volume biographical essay on the poet, totaling over 1500 pages. This latest biography, however, is intended for a non-specialized audience.

This discovery reconfigures (rectifies) the Basque origins of the poet from Puno, who until now figured in his biographies, holding the Oquendo surname in his paternal lineage only as an adoptive affiliation from the indicated date.

— Rodolfo MillaDescribing the significance of the newly found baptismal record.

A significant discovery within the new biography is a baptismal record found in La Paz, Bolivia. Dated April 10, 1768, the record is for Antonio Oquendo, a 16-year-old enslaved person from Guinea who was recognized as an adopted son by his owner, Francisco Oquendo. Milla states this finding "reconfigures" the previously believed Basque origins of the poet, indicating that the Oquendo surname in his paternal lineage was adopted.

were parricidal - literally 'one had to kill the father' - Oquendo, on the contrary, is an atypical avant-gardist

— Rodolfo MillaCharacterizing Oquendo de Amat's relationship with the avant-garde literary movement.

The biography also explores Oquendo de Amat's atypical position within the avant-garde movement, noting his friendship with prominent Peruvian Marxist ideologue José Carlos Mariátegui. This connection facilitated the publication of '5 metros de poemas' through the Minerva printing house. Milla reveals that Oquendo did not fully pay for the printing and faced difficulties with the complex format, resulting in only a few copies being distributed. The poet's work remained largely unknown for about 40 years until Mario Vargas Llosa mentioned him in a 1967 speech, leading to a renewed interest and subsequent editions.

did not fulfill the cancellation

— Rodolfo MillaReferring to Oquendo de Amat's failure to complete payment for the printing of '5 metros de poemas'.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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