Country 2026-02-15T13:29:34+00:00

Susana Thénon: Poetry as Weapon and Refuge

A new book, 'All the Voices of the Scream,' examines the legacy of Argentine poet Susana Thénon, whose revolutionary poetry used language as a battlefield, deconstructing grammar to find freedom and express the inexpressible.


Susana Thénon: Poetry as Weapon and Refuge

This news article discusses the Argentine poet Susana Thénon, whose work is analyzed in the new book 'Todas las voces del grito' (All the Voices of the Scream). The book, spanning 272 pages, explores not only her bibliography but also her biography, covering both her published works and posthumous or clandestine pieces, even those found on cassettes. Analía de la Fuente, Thénon's literary executor, and Mariana Palomino, one of the essayists, share their fascination with this multifaceted author's work in an interview. Thénon (1937-1990) used poetry as a tool for transgression and resistance. She deconstructed grammar to forge a new language capable of expressing the inexpressible. Her poetry is filled with 'noise' and 'silence,' where silence often becomes a desperate scream. Thénon refused to be 'possessed by words, cages, abject geometries,' and her work became a refuge where she could be whoever she wanted to be, defying the language of oppression. Her oeuvre, especially in the books 'distancias' and 'Ova Completa,' constitutes a macrocosm where one can trace her evolution, birth, development, and death. The book 'Todas las voces del grito' also includes previously unpublished poems titled 'Los himnos del idiota' (Hymns of the Idiot) and a 'Coda' written by the essayists as a kind of posthumous dialogue with the poet. Despite her life being brutally cut short, her legacy continues to influence new readers, offering a sense of near-limitless freedom in the use of language.