Roque Dalton was born 14 May 1935 in San Salvador, El Salvador, and was killed by his own guerrilla group forty years later, also in the month of May. Despite the brevity of his life span, Dalton wrote more than fifteen books that transformed the political and poetic spheres of his native country. He has been recognized as one of the leading poets of El Salvador, who united artistic and political varieties of the avant-garde into a whole. He cultivated diverse genres--essay, novel, drama, movie script, journalism, and political commentary--all with sarcastic humor and irony. His works have been translated into English, German, Japanese, and several other languages.

The illegitimate son of a wealthy Salvadoran of Irish-American origin, Winnal Dalton, and a humble nurse, Marcía García, Dalton lived his childhood with his mother. His official name was Roque García; before graduating from secondary school...