Editing Nicanor Parra (section)

==Life==
[[File:Nicanor Parra (c. 1935).jpg|thumb|Parra in 1935]]
Parra, the son of a schoolteacher, was born in 1914 in [[San Fabián de Alico]], near [[Chillán]], in Chile.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nicanor Parra un antipoeta, matemático y físico|url=http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/812957.html|work=EL UNIVERSAL|publisher=EL UNIVERSAL, Compañía Periodística Nacional|access-date=21 June 2012|language=es|date=1 December 2011}}</ref> He came from the artistically prolific [[Parra family]] of performers, musicians, artists, and writers. His sister, [[Violeta Parra]], was a folk singer, as was his brother [[Roberto Parra Sandoval]].

In 1933, he entered the [[Teacher education|Instituto Pedagógico]] of the [[Universidad de Chile (university)|University of Chile]], where he qualified as a teacher of mathematics and physics in 1938, one year after the publication of his first book, ''Cancionero sin Nombre''. After teaching in Chilean secondary schools, in 1943 he enrolled in [[Brown University]] in the United States to study physics. In 1948, he attended [[Oxford University]] to study cosmology.<ref>[http://www.quepasa.cl/articulo/6_425_9.html Los desconocidos años de Nicanor en Oxford], ''Qué Pasa'' (in Spanish), 5 August 2009</ref> He returned to Chile as a professor at the Universidad de Chile in 1952. Parra served as a professor of [[theoretical physics]] at the University of Chile from 1952 to 1991, and was a visiting professor at Louisiana State University, New York University, and Yale University.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.loc.gov/catbird/2018/01/literary-treasures-chilean-poet-nicanor-parra-reading-from-his-work/|title=Literary Treasures: Chilean Poet Nicanor Parra Reading from his Work {{!}} From the Catbird Seat: Poetry & Literature at the Library of Congress|last=Holmes|first=Anne|date=2018-01-23|website=blogs.loc.gov|access-date=2019-05-25}}</ref> He read his poetry in England, France, Russia, Mexico, Cuba, and the United States. He published dozens of books.

As a young man, he was promoted by [[Gabriela Mistral]] and [[Pablo Neruda]]. He came to Mistral's attention when she visited Chillán.  The national anthem was played in her honor, as Latin America's first Nobel laureate;  at its conclusion,  Parra leapt onto the stage and recited a poem he'd written for her the previous night.  Mistral, standing for the anthem, remained standing until Parra finished, and later introduced him to important people in [[Santiago]] as a poet of future global renown. Subsequently, Neruda arranged for Parra's collection ''Poemas y Antipoemas'' to be published in Buenos Aires, in 1954.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Parra |first1=Nicanor |others = Introduction by Frank MacShane|title=Antipoems: New and Selected |date=1985 |publisher=[[New Directions Publishing]] |location=New York |isbn=0811209598 | oclc = 1043466364 |page=x}}</ref>

''Poemas y Antipoemas'' is a classic of Latin American literature, one of the most influential Spanish poetry collections of the twentieth century. It is cited as an inspiration by American Beat writers such as [[Allen Ginsberg]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/chilean-poet-nicanor-parra-wins-cervantes-prize-1.988986 | work=CBC News | title=Chilean poet Nicanor Parra wins Cervantes Prize | date=1 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Nicanor Parra Havana 1965|url=http://www.allenginsberg.org/index.php?page=nicanor-para-havana-1965|work=Allen Ginsberg Project|access-date=21 June 2012}}</ref>
[[File:Nicanor Parra en 2014.jpg|thumb|Nicanor Parra at the age of 100]]

A fictionalized version of Parra appeared in [[Alejandro Jodorowsky]]'s autobiographical film ''[[Endless Poetry]]'' (2016).