translations by Jesse Lee Kercheval
Cursed Be the Day
The Night
Reasons
Idea Vilariño (1920–2009) was a Uruguayan poet, essayist, and literary critic. An essential figure in South American poetry, she was one of the few women members of the well-known literary and intellectual group the Generation of ’45. Vilariño’s best known book, Poemas de amor/Love Poems, was first published in 1957, but was revised and republished numerous times during her life. Vilariño worked as a high school literature teacher from 1952 until the Uruguayan military dictatorship in 1973. After the restoration of democracy, until her death, she was a professor of literature at the Universidad de la República in Montevideo.