Andrade in Print!

To the Editors:

While it was of interest to see a poem by Carlos Drummond de Andrade (translated by Thomas Colchie) appear in your issue of July 18, I believe your caption description of Andrade in your contents page created a somewhat misleading impression. It stated there that Andrade’s Selected Poems will be appearing in the US next spring. This seems to imply that there is presently no “selected poems” of Andrade available in English in the US—which is certainly not the case. Black Swan Books’ edition of Andrade’s The Minus Sign: Selected Poems (translated by Virginia de Araujo) has been available since 1981 and is currently still in print. As it is the first book of translations into English of Andrade’s poetry by his authorized translator, and as the book was co-sponsored by the Brazilian–American Cultural Institute, the role played by the small press, Black Swan Books, in bringing Andrade’s poetry to American readers’ attention, I feel, should be recognized. As there already exists an Andrade “selected poems” in print in the US, I am writing to call attention to our publication, The Minus Sign.

John J. Walsh

Black Swan Books

P.O. Box 327

Redding Ridge, CT 06876