Join us this in this week of literary news from Central America, the Philippines, and the Romanian diaspora! From recent publications of women writers, to a collection of electronic-inspired poetry, to movements against the ongoing genocide in Gaza, read on to learn more.
José García Escobar, Editor-at-Large, reporting on Central America
In December, Nicaraguan novelist and poet Gioconda Belli announced that Libros VISOR had just published a 900-page book collecting all her poetry books. Titled Toda la poesía (1974-2020), it includes a prologue written by Spanish poet Raquel Lanseros. This publication came only weeks after Belli won this year’s Premio Reina Sofía de Poesía Iberoamericana, one of the most prestigious awards given to poets of the Spanish language.
Earlier, in late November, Alfaguara put out a book entitled Desde el centro de América, Miradas alternativas, which includes short stories by twenty one Central American women. The collection includes the likes of Nicté Sierra, Marta Sandoval, and Ixsu’m Antonieta Gonzáles Choc, from Guatemala; María Eugenia Ramos and Jessica Isla, from Honduras; and Madeline Mendienta and Carmen Ortega, from Nicaragua. The book was put together by writer and researcher Gloria Hernández, who, in 2022, received Guatemala’s highest literary honor: the Miguel Ángel Asturias National Prize in Literature.
Later this year, Milkweed Edition will publish a book by the late, great Maya K’iche poet Humberto Ak’abal entitled If Today Were Tomorrow, translated by Michael Bazzett. A few days ago, Michael revealed that the book will include the last poem Ak’abal wrote before he died in 2019, entitled One Day. You can read One Day and other poems by Ak’abal and translated by Bazzett at the Poetry Foundation’s website here.
MARGENTO, Editor-at-Large, Reporting on the Romanian Diaspora
Romanian-international literati and literary translators have been active from the very first day of the new year. Asymptote contributor Felix Nicolau, for instance, launched the 5th issue of the Spain-based Romanian journal Littera Nova (January-March 2024) in his capacity as co-editor. The more than 160-page bulky release contains English translations from the 19th century classic Mihai Eminescu’s poetry by K.W. Twain, as well as Spanish, English, and German translations of late contemporary poets such as Mircea Ciobanu and Alexandru Muşina, and living ones like Marta Petreu, Vasile Dan, and Ștefan Damian. Nicolau himself contributed an impressive essay on legendary Romanian-Spanish poet and historian Alexandru Busuioceanu.
In Canada, past Asymptote contributor Diana Manole recently won no less than two literary prizes in one week: Honourable Mention in subTerrain Magazine’s 2023 Lush Triumphant Poetry contest for her sequence of poems “Mom’s Cravings in Her Old Age,” and the Gabo Literary Translation Prize from Lunch Ticket, Winter 2023/Spring 2024, for two poems from Paznic de noapte (The Night Security Guard) by Emil-Iulian Sude. Manole haș previously contributed poems by Sude to Asymptote, while her own recent poetry collection, Praying to a Landed-Immigrant God (bilingual, Romanian and English, involving no less than eight translators), was praised on Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings.
In Ireland, the 44th issue of the Romanian-international journal Itaca (Ithaca) was launched on December 31, 2023. Among the most remarkable contributors are poets and writers Emanuel Pope, Dana Banu, Dorina Șișu, Monica Săvulescu Voudouri, Valery Oișteanu, and Jean O’Brien, as well as an impressive number of translators such as Dorina Brândușa Landen, the lamented Cindrel Lupe, Laura Cătălina Dragomir, and the above-mentioned ubiquitous Felix Nicolau.
Another outstanding personality of the Romanian diaspora, O. Nimigean, living in Paris, France, also launched a book recently, a “selected poems” edited by critic Bogdan Crețu and illustrated with photos by another Parisian Romanian, poet and digital artist Dan Ciupureanu. The collection, with an apparently incomprehensible yet funnily electronic culture-informed title, p tlkmnd alba ai btn de POWER (POWER bttn ferr u on rE-mote), turned out a poetry best-seller at Gaudeamus Book Festival in Bucharest late last year.
Alton Melvar M Dapanas, Editor-at-Large, reporting from the Philippines
December 2, writers collective Kilometer 64 (KM64) launched the chapbook Mula Ilog Hanggang Karagatan: Mga Tula at Salin Para sa Palestine (From the River to the Sea: Poems and Translations for Palestine) in an event titled “Mula sa Ilog Hanggang sa Karagatan: Dignidad, Kalayaan, at Hustisya Para sa Lahat” (From the River to the Sea: Dignity, Liberation, and Justice for All) at Bistro 62, New Manila in the country’s capital region.
KM64’s Facebook page features poetry of Palestinian poets Mahmoud Darwish and Noor Hindi in translation into the Filipino by Pia Montalban and Billy Ibarra respectively—as well as original poems in Filipino and English (in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle against the NATO-sponsored Israeli settler-colonialism) written by, among others, Justine Taño, Yanin Pimentel, JR Fernando, Ivan Jethro Mella.
The chapbook Mula Ilog Hanggang Karagatan can be ordered through KM64’s official Facebook page.
Project 150 has also released a call for poetry, short prose, and comics submissions in any language (with translations into Filipino or English) as well as doodles and sketches for a literary zine on the ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza. The zine aims to amplify voices speaking against war towards a just and peaceful world.
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