This week, our Editors-at-Large take us to bi-national experimental poetry festivals and a community for children’s literature. From prize-winning novels to poetry that spans genres and mediums, read on to find out more!
Alan Mendoza Sosa, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Mexico
On Monday, January 15, Mexican poet Rocío Cerón launched the online series of panels “Diálogos Bifrontes” (Bifrontal Dialogues), alongside digital artist and poet Carlos Ramírez Kobra. Their conversation was the first of several upcoming chats about experimental, transmedial, and expanded poetry, a genre of literature that combines sounds, performance, and visual elements with poetic writing. They talked about how the transformation of poetry into different artistic and sonic registers entails a process of thinking, reflection, and attention that dissolves traditional boundaries between genre, media, and performance. They also reflected on their creative processes, highlighting how their works consist of — paraphrasing Cerón — an infinite codifying and re-codifying of language and symbols.
These Dialogues complement last year’s special, celebratory 13th anniversary edition of Enclave, an annual festival of expanded poetry founded by Cerón, which ran between November 23 and 25. As a bi-national event, Enclave 2023 was co-sponsored by several Mexican cultural institutions and the Goldsmiths University of London, and co-curated by Cerón and the German-British sound artist Iris Garrelfs. It invited collaborations between Mexican and British artists and poets exploring intersections between poetry, sound, music, and visual art.
Diálogos Bifrontes builds on Enclave’s mission of bringing together poets, artists, and musicians. Like the festival itself, the series will feature conversations by cutting-edge poets from Mexico and the U.K. who are redefining what poetry can mean.
Andriana Hamas, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Bulgaria
Though often overlooked, children’s literature is of vital importance for the future of each nation. It helps parents instill in their children a love for the written word and teach them the value of emotional virtues such as the kindness, empathy, and gentleness upon which societies must ultimately rest. This is why it is always a pleasant surprise when the world of business and entrepreneurship pays attention to bold initiatives meant to improve the relationship between young ones and the imaginary space beyond the text.
Recently, the Bulgarian edition of Forbes magazine named Pirina Vodenicharova, founder of the local community for children’s literature “Not a Day without Books,” among its “30 under 30 Class of 2023.” Vodenicharova is also the creator of the alternative lecture event “Meetings for Parents” and was given, in 2022, the prestigious Knight of the Book Award. For Forbes Bulgaria, she said: “Children are the modern heroes. We need to listen closely to them and observe them because there is a lot to learn.”
In an interview for the Marica newspaper, Vodenicharova shared that she started the community because she needed to meet “like-minded parents, who are excited about quality children’s literature and want to select the books that enter their homes carefully. I did not find such a community and created it. It turned out that many more people have the same need.” She also commented on the myth that children whose parents do not read will never learn to love reading themselves, emphasizing the importance of libraries, reading groups, and teachers.
To quote Roald Dahl: “The more risks you allow children to take, the better they learn to take care of themselves.” And reading is definitely one of those risks children should always be allowed to take.
Rene Esau Sanchez, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Mexico
January has been a perfect month for presenting Mexican literature abroad. Last week, for instance, novelist Álvaro Enrigue was in New York presenting his latest book You Dreamed of Empires, translated into English by Natasha Wimmer. The historical novel takes the reader back to 1519, when Hernan Cortes was to meet the Aztec emperor, Moctezuma. It is not the first time Enrigue has written a historical novel: his book Sudden Death (reviewed by Saskya Jain for Asymptote) won him the 2013 Herralde Prize, one of the most important awards in Spanish literature.
Nahua poet Mardonio Carballo also traveled internationally this month, going to France to present his book A Song of Flowers, where 49 poems intertwine with illustrations by Mexican designer Fernando Laposse. The original book is written in Náhuatl, with translations into Spanish done by Carballo. Both the English and the French editions present the original text in Náhuatl alongside with translations by Patrick Saurin. Carballo’s poetry often explores the many aspects of nature through the lens of Náhuatl vision: fertility and flowers, motherhood and trees, childhood and butterflies.
Last but not least, Mexican writer and editor Juan Pablo Villalobos, who currently lives in Barcelona, just announced that his new book El pasado anda atrás de nosotros will be published next month. Villalobos won the Herralde Prize with his book I Don’t Expect Anyone to Believe Me, which was adapted into a film by Netflix at the end of 2023. The author has stated that his new book will revolve around childhood and the many people and situations that construct our sense of ourselves at those earliest ages.
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