Kawsay : La Llama de la Selva / Kawsay by Maria Vazquez Valdez and translated by Margaret Randall

This is poetry from Mexico.

Kawsay : La Llama de la Selva / Kawsay by Maria Vazquez Valdez translated by Margaret Randall is published by The Operating System. This is a Book originally written in Spanish. This was published in 2018.0 and has the ISBN of 9.781946031358E12.

María Vázquez Valdez’s Kawsay: La Llama de la Selva / Kawsay, translated by Margaret Randall, brings the Mexican section into relation with Indigenous language, forest life, and the word “kawsay,” often associated with life or living. The bilingual title asks the reader to hold more than one linguistic and cultural frame at once. A flame of the jungle suggests vitality, danger, ritual, and ecological presence. Published by The Operating System, the book belongs in the library as a work of life-force and cultural crossing. I would describe it carefully as a text that asks English to listen beyond itself, where translation is not a replacement but an encounter with another way of naming life.

If you’d like to see international poetry continue and gain traction, consider requesting this work from your local library, or purchasing it from places like Open Books (a poetry only bookstore), Asterism Books (an independent press distributor), or bookshop.org to connect you with your local bookstores.

Check out more of the always in-progress translated poetry index here.