Alejandra Pizarnik (1936-1972) was a leading voice in twentieth-century Latin American poetry. Born in Avellaneda to Russian-Jewish immigrants, Pizarnik studied literature and painting at the University of Buenos Aires and spent most of her life in Argentina. In 1960, she moved to Paris, where she was influenced by the work of the Surrealists and participated in a vibrant expatriate community of writers that included Julio Cortázar and Octavio Paz. Known primarilyfor her poetry, Pizarnik also wrote experimental fiction, plays, a literary diary, and works of criticism. The poems in this issue are from her collection Los trabajos y las noches (Works and Nights), published in 1965. She died in Buenos Aires, of an apparent drug overdose, at the age of thirty-six.