Holy Winter 20/21 — Maria Stepanova
Stepanova’s collection is deeply ambivalent about the role of historical rhymes
Cigarettes Until Tomorrow: Romanian Poetry
It is normal to mourn a dying planet, it is common to feel isolated and embittered in this new era, but the true loss would be to accept such disaffection, to not fight for a better tomorrow.
The Obscene Bird of Night – José Donoso
Donoso poses the same question to the novel form that he poses to the aristocracy: What is the monstrosity that beauty and order are trying to suppress? We enter a novel where timelines are hopelessly confused, boundaries between characters are thin to the point of nonexistence, dark magic abounds.
Reservoir Bitches – Dahlia de la Cerda
In a country that has one of the world’s highest femicide rates, an irreverent tongue works as an imperfect, slapdash shield.
To Hell With Poets – Baqytgul Sarmekova
Each story is narrated from a third person ranging from a distant voice to a very close omniscient one . . . Consistent, however, is each character on a journey with no end.
I became very interested in how . . . linguistic dynamics played out, and how they related to power, and who had dominance in any given discourse.
No One Knows Their Blood Type (Excerpt)
Lately I’ve stopped looking at my father; his body is just another part of the room now, like the bed, the chair, and the window onto the maternity ward.
Divided Island – Daniela Tarazona
Like playing a game with a smart and mischievous child who is constantly reinventing the rules, Tarazona guides us towards the signposts and obscures them over and over again.
Traces of Enayat – Iman Mersal
It is not Mersal’s task, she decides, to tell Enayat’s story, but to be in dialogue with her, as much as such a thing is possible. Her task is “to take a journey towards someone who cannot speak for themselves.”
This haunted house is both prison and protector, antagonist and ally. . . . Martínez seems to align this ambivalence with the downsides of vengeance itself.