Alejandra Pizarnik, Night Singer

The book Night Singer was one of the projects of the 32nd Biennial of Graphic Arts. It offers a selection of works by the Argentinian poet Alejandra Pizarnik (1936–1972) in a bilingual Spanish-Slovenian edition. The extensive monograph includes a greater part of her poetic oeuvre, the prose Bloody Countess and the poet’s own reflections on her poetry. Of particular value are her drawings and the two previously unpublished letters to Djuna Barnes. The works were selected and translated by Miklavž Komelj and Nada Kavčič, who are also the authors of the accompanying essays. A text on Alejandra Pizarnik’s relationship to colour was contributed by the Venezuelan artist Yucef Merhi, the author of the digital art prints, which were published in the book for the first time. It was exactly during his residency in Ljubljana that the idea of publishing her book was born, as he drew attention to the importance of her oeuvre and the impact that her work had on many Latin American artists. With its melancholic poignancy, her writing laid bare the fundamental questions of existence and remained committed to finding, yearning and expressing pain in line with various confessional voices. As she wrote in one of her poems: “But my arms insist on embracing the world because they haven’t yet been taught that it’s too late.”