The Epic of Utnoa

The Epic of Utnoa (Esperanto: Poemo de Utnoa) is an epic by the Catalan writer Abel Montagut, published in Vienna, Austria, in 1993 and originally written in Esperanto.[1][2] It consists of seven cantos, and of 7095 verses in all, in an Alexandrine-derived Metre, a variant featuring 15 syllables rather than the usual 14.[3] The songs are inspired by major epics from world literature such as the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Aeneid, the Bible, the Ramayana, the Iliad, and by modern authors such as Papini, Asimov and others – especially as far as the treatment of the primaeval flood is concerned.[4][5] The book is contextualized by a foreword (by William Auld) and an afterword by Probal Dasgupta.[6] William Auld called Poemo de Utnoa “the first truly remarkable epic-science fiction poem in the world, and one of the very few modern epics” and Gerrit Berveling called it “impressively beautiful -- and at its most profound very wise – epic”[7]

  1. ^ Abel Montagut, Poemo de Utnoa. Pro Esperanto. Vienna, 1993. ISBN 3-85182-007-X. 225 p.
  2. ^ SUTTON, Geoffrey. Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto, 1887-2007. New York: Mondial, 2008, p. 553-557. ISBN 978-1-59569-090-6
  3. ^ Canto 1 contains 831 verses; canto 2, 968; canto 3, 883; canto 4, 799; canto 5, 1236; canto 6, 1017; canto 7, 1361
  4. ^ MARTÍN RODRÍGUEZ, Mariano «Dioses extraterrestres en la nueva epopeya: "Utnoa", de Abel Montagut, y la remitificación paeloastronáutica de Noé» in Abel Montagut, Utnoa. Poema épico, La biblioteca del laberinto, Miraflores de la Sierra (Madrid), 2018, p. 7-38, ISBN 978-84-948-234-3-5.
  5. ^ Jordi Solé i Camardons, «La gesta d’Utnoa de Abel Montagut», in Revista Hélice, Reflexiones críticas sobre ficción especulativa 4, volumen II. nº 4 - marzo 2015 (p. 93-94) https://www.revistahelice.com/revista/Helice_4_vol_II.pdf/
  6. ^ Probal Dasgupta: «Afterword to Poemo de Utnoa by Abel Montagut», in Revista Hélice, Reflexiones críticas sobre ficción especulativa 24, Volumen IV. nº 10 • Primavera-verano de 2018, https://www.revistahelice.com/revista/Helice_24.pdf
  7. ^ SUTTON, Geoffrey. Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto, 1887-2007. New York: Mondial, 2008, p. 553