Legna Rodrķguez Iglesias has quickly become one of the most celebrated Cuban poets writing today. Her intense often confrontational poetry refuses to conform, subverting expectations and challenging social mores. Particularly arresting is her uncomfortable focus on the human body, which she dramatises in isolation, stripping it of context, making it strange and even obscene. Alongside poems of extreme descriptive vigour, Rodrķguez Iglesias irreverently skewers the hypocrisies, clichés and hierarchies of our time. This selection offers a broad survey of Rodrķguez Iglesiass work, drawing on eight previous collections in Spanish. Throughout, the poems are inflected with Cuban history and explore the tensions between the generation of the Revolution and her own. The consequences of poets long-term residence in Miami are forcefully brought home through poems of emigration and estrangement. The playfulness and verbal dexterity that marks Rodrķguez Iglesiass work in Spanish has been expertly brought to life in English by Abigail Parry, an award-winning poet whose debut collection Jinx was published by Bloodaxe in 2018, working in collaboration with bridge-translator and writer Serafina Vick.
Recenzijas
The Poetry Translation Centre gives the best contemporary poems from Africa, Asia and Latin America a new life in the English language, working with diaspora communities for whom poetry is of great importance. By fostering creative collaborations between poets and translators, the PTC produces high-quality translations that extend the audience for international poetry.
| Introduction |
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From Fertile Truce [ 2012] |
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19 | (2) |
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21 | (2) |
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23 | (2) |
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25 | (2) |
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27 | (2) |
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29 | (2) |
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31 | (2) |
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33 | (2) |
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35 | (2) |
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37 | (4) |
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41 | (2) |
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43 | (2) |
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45 | (2) |
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47 | (4) |
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51 | (2) |
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53 | (2) |
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55 | (4) |
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From Miami Century Fox [ 2017] |
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59 | (2) |
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Ms Trolley remembers countries |
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61 | (2) |
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The day my girlfriend's molars started hurting |
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63 | (2) |
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65 | (2) |
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67 | (2) |
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The head that filled with water |
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69 | (2) |
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71 | (2) |
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73 | (2) |
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75 | (4) |
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From The Perfect Moment [ 2012] |
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79 | (2) |
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81 | (4) |
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85 | (2) |
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87 | (2) |
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89 | (4) |
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93 | (2) |
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95 | (4) |
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From Gum (Now is When) [ 2013] |
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99 | (2) |
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`I wanted to do some sort of poetic exercise ...' |
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101 | (2) |
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103 | (1) |
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`When a 25-day-old cat dies ...' |
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103 | (2) |
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`At the core of every being ...' |
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105 | (2) |
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`Truly, it is a shame ...' |
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107 | (1) |
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`When I send off my poems ...' |
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107 | (2) |
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109 | (4) |
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113 | (2) |
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115 | (2) |
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An accumulation of dry matter that is slow after flowering but intensifies during the lactic phase |
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117 | (2) |
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My girlfriend leaves for Cancun today |
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119 | (2) |
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121 | (2) |
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123 | (2) |
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The quantity of water initially necessary to support the substratum is determined by its nature and dimensions |
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125 | (4) |
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129 | (2) |
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Bucket, rope, fire extinguisher, etc. |
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131 | (2) |
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I'm making friends with all the police in the city so I can rob a bank with my water pistol |
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133 | (2) |
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The importance of tolerance and its development |
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135 | (2) |
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137 | (4) |
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From Sucking the stone [ 2013] |
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141 | (2) |
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143 | (2) |
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I don't know how to put this |
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145 | (2) |
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147 | (2) |
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149 | (2) |
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151 | (2) |
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153 | (2) |
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155 | (2) |
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157 | (4) |
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From Thread + Thread [ 2015] |
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161 | (2) |
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163 | (2) |
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165 | (2) |
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167 | (2) |
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169 | (2) |
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171 | (2) |
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173 | (2) |
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175 | (2) |
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177 | (2) |
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179 | (2) |
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181 | (2) |
| Notes |
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183 | (4) |
| About the Authors |
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Legna Rodrķguez Iglesias was born in Camagüey, Cuba in 1984, and now lives in Miami. She works in a variety of genres, including poetry, short stories, novels, childrens books and theatre. She won the 2011 Premio Iberoamericano de Cuentos Julio Cortįzar and the 2016 Premio Literario Casa de Las Américas, in theatre. Her poetry titles include Hilo + Hilo, Dame Spray, Transtucé, Chicle (ahora es cuando) and the dual language collection, Miami Century Fox (Akashic Books, US, 2017), winner of the 2016 National Poetry Series Paz Prize for Poetry. Her other titles include the novels Las analfabetas, Mayonesa bien brillante, and Mi novia preferida fue un bulldog francés, as well as the short story collection No sabe/no contesta. A dual language Spanish-English selection of her poems, Un cuerpecito son muchas partes / A little body are many parts, translated by Abigail Parry and Serafina Vick, was published in 2019 by Bloodaxe Books and the Poetry Translation Centre.
