Traducción

Háblame en tu lengua
y yo te hablo en mi lengua;
tu lengua en mi lengua 
y mi lengua en tu lengua. 

regression

You're awake. Your lips taste like morning
dew on the tip of the tongue after
a hot and restless night of fitful sleep.
Stay a while.

Reading Project: 2017

As done for the past 4 years, this is a reading list that comprises one book per month. The idea behind these lists is to organize myself in going through the books I currently own.

This year, the list is different since I've split it into two parts, each dealing with a different theme. 

List One will go through six novels by writers of the East Asia "Big Three" countries: China, Korea, and Japan.

List Two will go through six novels, each a different fiction book written by a woman. Some of these books will be in Spanish, others in English.

LIST ONE - From January to June: A Literary Tour through the East Asian "Big Three"

January: I Am China by Xiaolu Guo (2014, China)

February: Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, trans. Megan Backus (1988, Japan)

March: A Greater Music by Bae Suah, trans. Deborah Smith (2003, Korea)

April: The Fat Years by Chan Koonchung, trans. Michael S. Duke (2009, China)

May: Where Europe Begins by Yoko Tawada, trans. Susan Bernofsky and Yumi Selden (1989, Japan)

June: No One Writes Back by Jang Eun-Jin, trans. Jung Yewon (2009, Korea)

LIST TWO - From July to December: Contemporary Women Writers

July: Tejas by Carmen Boullosa (2012, Mexico)

August: Sphinx by Anne Garréta, trans. Emma Ramadan (2015, France)

September: Domingo de Revolución by Wendy Guerra (2016, Cuba)

October: The Blazing World by Siri Hustvedt (2014, USA)

November: Cartas al agua by Ana Teresa Toro (2015, Puerto Rico)

December: The Wallcreeper by Nell Zink (2014, USA)

NOTE: These are not the only books I expect to read in 2017. These simply are the main books I will most definitely read; anything else I read will be in-between or alongside these books.

Listado de pelis en español

I made this list for someone based on recommendations from trustworthy acquaintances. I'm adding it here because I want to save it somewhere.

Cronocrimenes - Nacho Vigalondo (España)
Secreto de sus ojos - Juan José Campanella (Argentina)

El ofarnato - Juan Antonio Bayona (España)
Cría cuervos (on Hulu) - Carlos Saura (España)
No - Pablo Larraín (Chile)
Nueve reinas - Fabián Bielinsky (Argentina)
El lado oscuro del corazón - Eliseo Subiela (Argentina)

El espíritu de la colmena (Hulu) - Victor Erice (España)

Post Tenebras Lux (Netflix) - Carlos Reygadas (México)
Blancanieves (Netflix) - Pablo Berger (España)

Post Mortem (Netflix) - Pablo Larraín (Chile)
Tony Manero (Netflix) - Pablo Larraín (Chile)
La nana - Sebastián Silva (Chile)
La ciénaga - Lucrecia Martel (Argentina y España)

Fresa y chocolate - Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Juan Carlos Tabío (Cuba y México)
Hombre mirando al sudoeste - Eliseo Subiela (Argentina)
Lucía y el sexo (Netflix) - Julio Medem (España)
Átame (Netflix) - Pedro Almodóvar (España)
Amantes del círculo polar - Julio Medem (España)

Medianeras - Gustavo Taretto (Argentina)

Aflicciones 1

I ran into her walking down the street.
"You're Donnie's wife, aren't you?", I embarrassingly blurted.
She looked a bit taken aback.
"I'm sorry. You have a name -- Miyako, correct?"
She nodded and smiled.

Less a break, more a total chasm

A playlist in two parts as a last-ditch effort to reconcile.

1: I Could Be Wrong 

1. "Hard to Explain" - The Strokes

2. "The City" - The Dismemberment Plan

3. "Red" - Elbow

4. "Pictures of You" - The Cure

5. "Smother" - Daughter

6. "Dust On the Ground" - Bombay Bicycle Club

7. "156" - Mew

8. "Polaroids" - Kitchens of Distinction

9. "Seasick, Yet Still Docked" - Morrissey

10. "Bad Religion" - Frank Ocean

11. "Running to a Stand Still" - U2

12. "High and Dry" - Radiohead

13. "Heart Skipped a Beat" - The XX

14. "P.S. Goodbye" - The Chameleons

15. "I Still Remember" - Bloc Party
16. "Submarine" - The Drums

17. "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" - The Smiths

2: But This Is Right

1. "I Don't Want to Get Over You" - The Magnetic Fields

2. "The Reflection of You" - Bear In Heaven

3. "F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E." - Pulp

4. "Grace" - Jeff Buckley
5. "Forget" - Mission of Burma
6. "Temptation (7")" - New Order

7. "Waiting for You" - PNAU

8. "Do You Realize??" - The Flaming Lips

9. "Native Speaker" - Braids

10. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" - The Police
11. "Crazy for You" - Slowdive

12. "Hidden Place" - Björk

13. "First We Kiss" - Anna Calvi
14. "In My Arms" - Principe Valiente

15. "Leif Erikson" - Interpol

16. "Hysteric" (Acoustic version) - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

17. "Change Your Mind" - The Killers

Inadvisable

I've become crueler in your presence
- "Two More Years", Bloc Party

Don't fall for the skinny.
They're weightless and, when 
least expected, they
float away, like smoke
through the fingers, leaving
all the heaviness behind.

"Es una broma, Amadeo": A Tour Across Roberto Bolaño's Narrative

Starting in 2015, I've decided to read the entirety of Bolaño's narrative works: short stories and novels. The reading order for each book is built around the original date of publication. I will read each text in Spanish.

This project is for organizational and pleasure purposes; as such, I plan to read around one Bolaño novel a month at a leisurely pace. Exceptions will be made for Los detectives salvajes (The Savage Detectives), where I will devote two months for it; and 2666, which will take three months. I will move dates as necessary, though, and will do my best to provide an update one month in advance in case of date change.

The list of works is as follows:

2015
January - Consejos de un discípulo de Morrison a un fanático de Joyce (novel, 1984)
February - Monsieur Pan (1984 as La senda de los elefantes) (novel, 1999)
March - La pista de hielo (novel, 1993) 
April - La literatura nazi en América (novel, 1996)
May - Estrella distante (novel, 1996)
June - Llamadas telefónicas (short stories, 1997)
July/August - Los detectives salvajes (novel, 1998)
September - Amuleto (novel, 1999)
October - Nocturno de Chile (novel, 2000)
November - Putas asesinas (short stories, 2001)
December - Amberes (novel, 2002)

2016
January - Una novelita lumpen (novel, 2002)
February - El gaucho insufrible (short stories, 2003)
March-August* - 2666 (novel, 2004)
September - El secreto del mal (short stories, 2007)
October - El Tercer Reich (novel, 2010)
November - Los sinsabores del verdadero policía (novel, 2011)
December - El espíritu de la ciencia-ficción (novel, 2016)

If I'm missing anything, please let me know and I'll update accordingly!
*Delayed.

And so

a heart of tobacco;
chew it up,
spit it out

Wishful Thinking

If I could have one superpower
it would be the ability
to eat my regrets

Romantic Physics

After 24 hours, dis-
entanglement
begins.

Cry for all
that wasted
effort.

you lack sound

went to open up lines
of communication, but all
I get is static.

A Literary Tour of Latin America

From January 2013 to September 2014, I have decided to read one novel from one Latin American country each month. 

I define Latin America as the countries situated in the American continent and region where the official and de facto languages are the Romance languages Spanish and Portuguese.

(UPDATE: I've decided to leave out the Francophone Americas because that works as an independent project in itself.)

The list of countries and novels is as follows. The novels were chosen by recommendation and my own fancy. However, I'm trying to be as contemporary as possible since I'm interested in current literature as opposed to "classics".

Note: I will read all the novels from Spanish-speaking countries in Spanish.

2013
January: Argentina - El fondo del cielo, by Rodrigo Fresán
February: Bolivia - El lugar del cuerpo, by Rodrigo Hasbún
March: Brasil - O livro das Emoções (The Book of Emotions), by João Almino
April: Chile - Locuela, by Carlos Labbé
May: Colombia - Los ejércitos, by Evelio Rosero
June: Costa Rica - El Emperador Tertuliano y la Legión de los Superlimpios, by Rodolfo Arias Formoso
July: Cuba - El hombre que amaba a los perros, by Leonardo Padura
August: Ecuador - La piel del miedo, by Javier Vásconez
September: El Salvador - Tirana memoria, by Horacio Castellano Moya
October: Guatemala - Severina, by Rodrigo Rey Rosa
November: Honduras - Azul maligno, by César Rodríguez Indiano
December: México - Nadie me verá llorar, by Cristina Rivera Garza

2014
January: Nicaragua - La fugitiva, by Sergio Ramírez
February: Panamá - Nostalgia de tu risa loca, by Carlos Oriel Wynter Melo
March: Paraguay - Yo, el Supremo, by Augusto Roa Bastos
May: Perú - Abril rojo, by Santiago Roncagliolo
June: Puerto Rico - Exquisito cadáver, by Rafael Acevedo
July: República Dominicana - Papi, by Rita Indiana
August: Uruguay - El discurso vacío, by Mario Levrero
September: Venezuela - Iniciaciones, by Israel Centeno

Una causa

Reposar la cabeza entre tus muslos
y respirar la vida.

Proun: "the station where one changes from painting to architecture."

Neuer (New Man). 1923. El Lissitzky.

Russian Suprematism and its offshoots, Proun in this case, continue to fascinate me.

From the MoMA website: http://www.moma.org/collection/object.php?object_id=88312 

At the behest of Marc Chagall, Lissitzky accepted the directorship of the graphic workshop at the Vitebsk Art Institute in 1919. Following Kazimir Malevich's arrival at the school, Lissitzky became greatly influenced by Suprematism and began to work in an abstract style. He invented imagery known as Proun (Project for the Affirmation of the New), which consisted of images of floating architectonic structures that occupied an imagined three-dimensional space through which one might move above, below, and through. The Proun style can be seen in New Man, the name of a character in the groundbreaking 1913 Russian Futurist opera Victory over the Sun. After seeing a 1920 production staged in Vitebsk, Lissitzky adapted the opera for a cast of mechanical puppets. His designs incorporate the geometry and limited color palette of Suprematism and the multidimensionality of the Proun images.