Gabriela Cantú Westendarp

Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel

Monterrey: Literal/Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León

ISBN: 978-1-942307-28-0

88 p.

«There are people who seem to have made a pact
with the devil, people who, although everyone
knows full well they’ve entered their autumn years,
still move as if they were a blossom newly
unfurled. Perhaps this attitude is due to their having
gone beyond where one can go. Perhaps they’re like those
beings who, like Butes, faced with the sea, with the song
of the sirens, couldn’t hold back and have
dived headfirst into life, into the very depths of life
and have survived.»

Gabriela Cantú Westendarp (Monterrey N.L., 1972) has authored 6 poetry books, including Naturaleza muerta and El filo de la playa, and a novel, Hamburgo en alguna parte. Her work has been published in anthologies, newspapers and magazines from Mexico, Spain, the United States, England, China, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, Cuba and Brazil. She was recognized with the Ramón López Velarde National Poetry Award and the Carmen Alardín Regional Prize.

Lawrence Schimel (New York, 1971) is a bilingual writer (Spanish/English) who has published over 100 books as author or anthologist. He is also a literary translator. Recent translations into English include The Wild Book by Juan Villoro (Restless Books), I’d Ask You To Join Me By The Río Bravo To Weep But You Should Know Neither Tears Nor River Remain by Jorge Humberto Chávez (Shearsman Books) & Hamartia by Carmen Boullosa (White Pine Press, forthcoming).