While researching my various poetry series posts (learn more about that here) I’ve come across various treasure troves of freely accessible poetry that I thought…why not share?
From the sites focusing on specific regions and countries to others which deal with poetry from around the world, here are some of the best places to read Latin American poetry for free online.
★★★★★
Latin American Literature Today
A classic, Latin American Literature Today publishes a wealth of bilingual poems from writers across Latin America and often feature trilingual poems by indigenous poets too. While you can’t browse by country or region, you can comb through the author index to find what you’re looking for.
brokenenglish
Even though I truly despise the brokenenglish website and find it near impossible to navigate, there is a good selection of Latin American poetry tucked away there if you care to look for it. But all the flashing might not be great if you’re prone to migraines or epilepsy.
POESIA
If you read Spanish, this Venezuelan magazine has a treasure trove of freely accessible Latin American (read: Venezuelan) poetry available to you, from poets including Cristina Elena Pardo, Enza García Arreaza, and Norys Saavedra Sánchez. Navigate to the ‘Poesía’ tab in the menu to see what’s available.
Campos de Plumas
For Spanish-language only poems, Campos de Plumas has a decent selection of Latin American work. Go to the Campos de Poesía tab to browse the freely accessible selection
Poetry Foundation
Poetry Foundation is like an online encyclopaedia of poets from around the world and their Latin American offerings are strong. Navigate through to the ‘Explore Poems’ section, where you can find poets by region. There, choose from Latin America, Mexico, or Caribbean (not sure why Mexico is separate from Latin America, but anyway) to find Latin American bios and poetry in translation.
Poetry Translation Centre
Diaspora communities and poets from Asia, Africa, and Latin America are the focus of the Poetry Translation Centre’s catalogue of online poetry. I especially like that you can browse by country and language.
Springhouse Journal
Read published and translated poems by navigating to the Springhouse Journal ‘Archive’ section. There, you’ll find work by Central American poet Alaide Foppa, and lots of translated poetry (from Issue 5) by Cuban writers such as Caridad Atencio and Georgina Herrera. Alongside poetry, you can also read fiction and non-fiction from both Latin American writers and other international names.
Circulo de Poesía
Circulo de Poesía, a Mexican poetry publication, is a favourite amongst translators like David Shook and with good reason. Not only are there tons of poems from Mexican poets, there’s also a strong Latin American content contingent to browse through.
Catranslation
Featuring a mixture of poetry and fiction, Catranslation is a good place to look if you know exactly who and what you want to read in translation. Click through to ‘Journal’ to see the various poems and excerpts but just know that this isn’t the most easily navigable website.
Lyrik Line
If you’re into listening to poets like Érica Zingano, Ethel Barja, and Diana Garza Islas read their poems, Lyrik Line is an ideal place to start your exploration of Latin American poetry. And the website itself is navigable in nine different languges, plus you can browse by country.
Poetry International Archives
Although they seem light on non-cismen poets for Latin American countries that aren’t Mexico, the Poetry International Archive still have work by Karinna Alves Gulias, Dolores Dorantes, and Valeria Tentoni. Plus, you can browse by country.
Poesía Mexa
I used Poesía Mexa a lot when putting together my post about Mexican poets and it’s a great repository of Mexican poetry if you’re comfortable navigating and reading in Spanish. While you kind of have to know the name of the person you’re looking for to find them on the website, a definite bonus of Poesía Mexa is the way you can download free PDF versions of dozens of poetry chapbooks and anthologies.
Jámpster
Alongside downloading a limited number of free poetry PDFs, you can also read reviews, essays, and literary criticism on Jámpster, a Chilean site which was where Isabel Zapata actually published her Bluets translation.
Related: In Conversation with Essayist, Poet and Translator Isabel Zapata
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