Nothing is Lost

This volume brings together poems from six collections originally published between 1990 and 2011. I have divided the selection into five sections that correspond, broadly, to the separate stages in which they were written. The final and briefest one includes five fragments from Perros en la playa [Dogs on the Beach], a miscellany of prose, poetry and aphorisms that I published in early 2011. In my opinion, a Selected should not solely contain poems that have been often anthologised or singled out for praise by critics and readers. It should give a more or less accurate view of the variety and development of one's output over the years. Therefore, I have not shied away from including some youthful pieces or the odd experiment-not to mention poems for which one feels an immoderate fondness, which no amount of critical scrutiny can ever hope to dispel. (Jordi Doce)