José Emilio Pacheco

José Emilio Pacheco was born in Mexico City on June 30, 1939. He studied at Autonomous National University of Mexico. 

Pacheco’s first book of poetry, Los elementos de la noche [The Elements of Night], was published by his university’s press in 1963. This was immediately followed by a novel, El viento distante [The Distant Wind] (Ediciones Era, 1963). His other collections of poetry include Selected Poems (New Directions, 2026), edited by George McWhirter; An Ark for the Next Millennium: Poems (University of Texas Press, 1993), illustrated by Francisco Toledo and translated by Margaret Sayers Peden; Los trabajos del mar: Poemas, 1979–1983 [The Labors of the Sea: Poems, 1979–1983] (Ediciones Era, 1983); Desde Entonces: Poemas, 1975–1978 [Since Then: Poems, 1975–1978] (Ediciones Era, 1980); Islas a la deriva: Poemas, 1973–1975 [In the Drift of the Islands: Poems, 1973–1975] (Siglo Veintiuno Editores, 1976); Irás y no volverás: Poemas, 1969–1972 [And So You Go, Never to Come Back: Poems, 1969–1972] (Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1973); and El reposo del fuego [The Resting Place of Fire] (Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1966). He was also a translator of works by Samuel Beckett, Yevgeny Yevtuschenko, and Albert Einstein, among others. 

Pacheco was awarded the Mexican National Poetry Prize in 1969 for his collection No me preguntas cómo pasa el tiempo [Don’t Ask Me How the Time Goes By] (Editorial Joaquín Mortiz, 1969). Another collection, El silencio de la luna [The Silence of the Moon] (Ediciones Era, 1994), was awarded the Premio José Asunción Silva for the best book in Spanish to appear in any country between 1990 and 1995. 

Aside from writing, Pacheco worked as the assistant editor for Revista de la Universidad de México from 1959 until 1960, then as an associate editor at La Cultura en México before going on to teach literature at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom. He died on January 26, 2014, in Mexico City.