ABSTRACT
Facing opposition from The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and desperately needing the funds during a period of financial hardship, a cash-strapped Paz politely obliged and proceeded to select a treasury of Mexican poetry spanning four centuries, from the Conquest to the early twentieth century. Created in 1945 to build international solidarity and peaceful relations in the wake of the two World Wars, UNESCO established a series of educational programmes to foster intercultural relations between its member nations. In his key role as editor of the anthology, Octavio Paz has been instrumental in providing an insider's perspective on Beckett's complex relationship with the Mexican poems. Paz's description provides a vivid snapshot of the collaborative relations between Paz and Beckett within their respective roles as anthologiser and translator, which strongly contrasts with Paz's increasingly strained relationship with Torres Bodet.
