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| Poetry book named Women of the Wind (2017) |
It´s World Poetry Day!
Last year I went to Quetzaltenango (a city in Guatemala’s western highlands) and decided to visit a unique bookstore called Santiaguito Libros [Santiaguito Books]. Of course, I had to buy books and some of them are still on my TBR, otherwise, it wouldn´t have been a successful visit.
They´re committed to selling books from independent Guatemalan editors and local authors. It´s a mandatory stop for us readers and my only advice to them would be to sell coffee or to have some tables outside. The bookshop does have a comfy couch and the booksellers are a well-known couple of writers that do own their own indie publishing house named Catafixia. At this moment all their titles are written in Spanish, but I do hope for them to consider translations to share local authors with the world.
I must say that they´ve curated and revived some great authors that nowadays here in Guatemala we don´t know or have forgotten. I wish them all the best by keeping the bookstore open for many years. When you enter their shop both welcome you and help you find titles based on what you like or what they consider you´d like. Based on my taste I was suggested to read Mujeres del viento [Women of the Wind] a compilation of seven women who write poetry edited by Metáfora editores.
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| A poem by Miriam Ochoa |
This was a bold and much-needed compilation because most poetry books written in Guatemala are from the city. Sharing poetry from other regions is a responsibility with our history and decentralizes literature. You can only find the book in Spanish, however, I translated my favorite verses for you to know them. Plus feel free to fix any translation mistakes since this is my third language. :)
Poets
- Ixmucané Us
- Nakbé Gómez
- Miriam Ochoa
- Isabel Rosales
- Victoria Colaj
- Sulama Lorenzo
- Keren Escobar
"We are the daughters
from the women of the wind, of the Earth and corn
that survive and nourish from the Fire
that rise from the embers of the fire at night
they build homes in the eyes of the moon
and where their hair grows
to knit new cycles
they keep walking
walking
walking"
Ixmucané Us
"The women of the town are born braided, we bring the aroma of spices in our bodies, our eyes are flooded by spring water and we kiss with the intensity of the fire that we gather in the morning."
Keren Escobar
"I give you the flow of my bowels
I give you the vibration of my paths,
of my mountains, my hurricanes.
coincide in the freedom of our being, renewing spring in the midst of tyranny and chaos, feeling ourselves inside, stopping the rotation of the sun."
Victoria Colaj
Anyway, I would love to translate the entire book, but I´m not a certified literature translator and I don´t want to get into trouble for translation rights. However, thinking of World Poetry Day makes me want to go back again and live in Quetzaltenango. For a slower living and once in a while walk around downtown and enter Santiaguito Libros. This book was totally worth the four-hour ride and the cold nice weather.
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