Skip to main content
Inspired by life itself
Poet EDUARDO EMBRY talks to Michal Boncza about the influences on his work — exile in Britain after the murderous Pinochet coup, the satire in his new anthology Dead Flies and the current rebellion in his native Chile
Eduardo Embry

BEING forced to leave your country of origin inevitably induces all manner of trauma, and Eduardo Embry believes that exile, ever since ancient times, is the most serious thing a human being can face.

In his case, having received threats and in danger of arrest, torture and death, exile was “a life or death situation,” he remembers. “It was the fate of hundreds of comrades, who were executed.”

When he arrived in London in 1974, Embry began the process of recovering from the multiple traumas — particularly torture — a process in which he was guided by psychologist and comrade Alejandro Reyes.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
Ricardo
Obituary / 30 June 2026
30 June 2026

19.01.1930-23.04.2026

Kate Clark pays tribute to Ricardo, whose life spanned the hopes of Allende’s Chile, the horrors of military dictatorship and decades of campaigning for justice in exile

boix
Literature / 22 June 2026
22 June 2026

From post-human revolution in Puerto Rico to trans poetics and queer mythmaking, these three books that imagine new ways of being together

GOMBROWICZ HAUNT: Cafe Tortoni at 825 Avenida de Mayo / Pic: Dziczka/CC; insert Bohdan Paczowski/CC
Book Review / 19 April 2026
19 April 2026

CHRIS MOSS joins the hunt in Argentina for the works of Poland’s most enigmatic exile

harrison
Appreciation / 28 September 2025
28 September 2025

ALAN MORRISON celebrates life and work of the late Tony Harrison, 1937-2025