”Pienso en casos como el de Luna Miguel, agitadora poética, poeta agitada, joven estelar y estrella joven, a quien apenas he visto en mi vida.”
(Source: estandarte.com)
via: estabanlocos
Translation of Layla Martínez’s untitled poem, from the original Spanish. The poem belongs to the unedited El libro de la crueldad (The Book of Cruelty).
We denied
the demented transit
of the birds in heat
until they crashed
against the glass
of the window.
The hysteric flight
of the praying mantids
until they were devoured
by cruel children.
Since then
we’ve only managed to walk
from one side to the other
with dilated pupils
like recently run-over
animals.
via: estabanlocos
Translation of a poem by Rodrigo Olay, posted in it’s original Spanish at Tenían viente años y estaban locos.
AMERICAN DREAM
How many times I dreamed of not being different,
I wanted to be just another one in the group
and wear the basketball team jacket
so a flexible electric cheerleader,
with long hair so new and blond that it hides
her shoulders like recently rained upon wheat fields,
would accept between the smiles of other cheerleaders
my nervous proposal against some lockers
and come with me to the annual dance
where all the boys rent limousines
and dress in tuxedos and dance really close
in the old gym surrounded by balloons
and after seeing that they’re not the King and Queen of the dance
they ask whispering to each other solemnly if you want to come
get some fresh air, and run to the bottoms
of the iron bleachers, in the football field,
and then she gets her prom dress dirty
but it doesn’t matter now, or maybe better to take
his parent’s car to some high-point
(although only she knows what’s going to happen)
from which they can see the city and give each other
very slowly and very softly, with closed eyes
with the force of vertigo, a meticulous kiss
(the first for both of them, but they do it so well
that we pity them) and looking at themselves they have
all their adolescence overflowing in their eyes
and dying they jump into the backseat.
Rodrigo Olay (Noreña, Asturias, 1989) studies Spanish Language at the University of Oviedo.
Un poema o algo así.
Recitado y entrevista de la maravillosamente enferma Luna Miguel.
—
Books I’ve Read Since Living in Germany (July 2011- Present):
July
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker.
- Steven Pinker is a genius, that much is certain. There is very little I can disagree with in this book, and I think that’s a great thing. He provides a great alternative to fundamentalist arguments on how to address moral issues in society.
The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker.
August
Invisible by Paul Auster.
- My first introduction to Auster’s work. I was blown away - lot’s of surprises and a new but seemingly familiar post-modernism.
El general en su laberinto (The General In His Labyrinth) by Gabriel García Márquez.
- You’d better like history, Latin American post-revolutionary history.
September
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (Library copy, not pictured)
- First Nick Hornby book I’ve read - didn’t realize Fever Pitch and About a Boy (the films) were based off of his books. Light reading I suppose, but this one made me laugh a good few times and I gleaned two or three quotes from it.
Noticias de un secuestro (News of a Kidnapping) by Gabriel García Márquez (Library copy, not pictured).
- I was a little put off by Márquez’s El general en su laberinto, but I saw this in the library and decided to give another go at his historical accounts. This one really pulled me in and I enjoyed it a lot. Got me interested enough to look into the victims’ lives.
Travels in the Scriptorium by Paul Auster (Library copy, not pictured).
- The situation and format of this novella really interested me, it wasn’t until I later looked up the book online that I learned that many of the characters are borrowed from his other writings - now I’ll have to go back and re-read!
A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby (Library copy, not pictured).
- Read this one out of boredom - it wasn’t particularly moving. Too surreal and too forced for my tastes.
Brooklyn Follies by Paul Auster.
- After having read two of Auster’s books, Brooklyn Follies struck me as a divergence from his typical writing style, in that everything was wrapped up beautifully in a nice package for an ending. The stories are beautiful, but they do not resemble the gritty and unresolved endings that really won me over in his other books.
Sunset Park by Paul Auster.
- Of Auster’s books that I have read thus far, this has impacted me most. It’s a perfect example of beauty and uncertainty and tragedy blended together to paint a picture of how we all are living.
Tenían veinte años y estaban locos (They Were Twenty Years Old and They Were Crazy) edited by Luna Miguel.
- A truly beautiful collection of poetry from young Spaniards. I cannot recommend it enough - although I guess ability to read Spanish is a bit of a prerequisite.
November
Las teorías salvajes by Pola Oloixarac (haven’t finished).
- Spanish is not my first language, and it shows when I try to read this book. I am really intrigued by the characters thus far, but it’s a struggle - not aided by the fact that the writer is Argentinian (side-note: she’s also incredibly beautiful). I plan on working through this one over the winter holidays.
Leviathan by Paul Auster (currently reading).
- So far, I’m sold. Should be finished within a day or so.
Happy birthday Luna.
Luna Miguel is a Spanish writer and journalist. A Random House intern, an alt lit translator, a photographer, poet, essayist and editor.
Everyone should know about Luna Miguel.
(Source: altlitgossip)
:)
Tenían veinte años y estaban locos:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12125574-ten-an-veinte-a-os-y-estaban-locos
Estaré muy feliz cuando pueda sentarme en un bar, tomar una cerveza y leer este libro.
