A prowl through words reveals the unstable character of the cosmos.
With entries as varied as ‘elbow’, ‘Ophelia’, ‘progress’, the painter Giorgio Morandi, ‘chess’, ‘Eulalia’ (a friend of the author’s aunt), and ‘unicorn’, Ida Vitale constructs a dictionary of her long and passionately engaged artistic life. Taking the reader by the arm, she invites us to become her confidant, sharing her remarkable 20th century as a member of a storied generation of Latin American writers, of whom she is the last remaining alive. It’s a compendium of friendship, travel, reading, and the endless opportunities she found for 'the joyful possibility of creation.' Like every dictionary, Lexicon of Affinities seeks to impose order on chaos, even if in its exuberant, whimsical profusion it lays bare the unstable character of the cosmos.
"Vitale's prose is drop dead gorgeous." --Jeremy Garber, Powell's Bookshop
"Extraordinary... giving due attention to Vitale's prose will bring you reassurance and optimism." --Lunate
"A vibrant and playful memoir-in-dictionary-form...a joyous celebration of a life well lived, with entries that range from the simple to the titanic." --Literary Hub
"Indispensable... [Vitale's] language... has a precision that reminds us that memory exists: that today precision is an act of distinction and recognition." --Letras Libres
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Praise for Ida Vitale
"the best book of 2021 just arrived. Search no further. All the other contenders tapped out while this masterpiece was being completed." --ABC Arts
"Vitale's prose is drop dead gorgeous and Byobu an enchanting mix of the wise, the ruminative, and the poetic." --Jeremy Garber, Powell's Bookshop
"A fascinating glimpse into the poet's intricate world." --Morning Star
"Extraordinary... giving due attention to Vitale's prose will bring you reassurance and optimism." --Lunate
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About the Author
Ida Vitale (Uruguay, 1923) is a poet, translator, essayist, and literary critic. In 2018, she was just the fifth woman to receive the prestigious Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the highest recognition for literature in Spanish. In addition to the Cervantes Prize, she has also received the FIL Literature Prize (2018), Max Jacob Prize (2017), Federico García Lorca Poetry Prize (2016), Reina Sofía Poetry Prize (2015), Alfonse Reyes Prize (2014), and Octavio Paz Prize (2009), and was named by the BBC as one of the 100 most influential women of 2019.
