A Contemporary Latin American Homo Poeticus: Ruta Dos by Daniel Calabrese

Abstract:This article reads Ruta Dos [Highway Number Two] by Daniel Calabrese, an Argentine poet with an outstanding literary career, from a European point of view concerning contemporary Latin American poetry. Calabrese's book has had a long-lasting impact since its awarded appearance in 2013, counting subsequent editions in Chile, Spain, Cuba, and translations into Italian, Bulgarian and Portuguese. Ruta Dos, as its very title indicates, fits within what is known as road literature in more than one sense. Calabrese has produced a work that is linked to the works of memory in the socio-political context of Argentina during his childhood, adolescence and early youth. For this reason, necessary mention is made about his most recent book of poetry, Compás de espera [Waiting Beat], which is composed with the self-reflecting memories of a young man taken as a soldier to the Falklands War in 1982.