David Huerta

David Huerta was born and lived in Mexico City. He was a poet, journalist, critic, essayist, translator, professor, and activist. In 2006, Huerta was awarded the Xavier Villarrutia Prize, Mexico’s most prestigious literary award, for his book Version (1978, 2005). Among his other honors are the Diana Moreno Toscano Prize for Literary Promise (1971), one Guggenheim Fellowship (1978), and the Carlos Pellicer Prize (1990). In 2015 he received the National Prize of Literature and became Poet Emeritus. The author of more than 20 books of poetry and the recipient of all of Mexico’s major literary awards, David Huerta was one of the leading contemporary poets in Mexico. Before Saying Any of the Great Words is the first comprehensive bilingual edition of his work. “The main responsibility of a poet,” Huerta said in an interview, “is to make language sufficiently transparent, so that through it we can see a few of the important things that are in the world, in life, and also in death. He was also a journalist, critic, essayist, translator, professor, and activist. David passed away in October 2022.