Samuel Beckett’s Translations of Latin American Poets for UNESCO

Samuel Beckett’s self-avowed slight acquaintance with the Spanish language did not prevent him from tackling the translation of a poem by the Chilean Gabriela Mistral, as well as a whole anthology of Mexican poetry. Little attention has been paid to this sideline in Beckett’s career. This paper contextualizes Beckett’s involvement in these two UNESCO projects and shows, with recourse to his translation manuscripts, the intensity of the author’s work despite his distaste for these commissions.