Image: Joseba Muruzábal, Leiterofilia II. Oil on canvas. By arrangement with the artist.
In our March 2021 issue, we publish writing from Galicia, a region sandwiched between Portugal and Spain but with a literary culture independent of both. Guest editors Jacob Rogers and Scott Shanahan bring us a selection of poetry and prose that explores estrangement and loss: origin stories deprived of romance and soaked with the stink of canneries; youthful penchants for the scatalogical; friendships exhausted; the unexpected architectu
Words Without Borders would like to thank the Xunta de Galicia's Secretaría de Política Lingüística and Xacobeo 2021 for their support of this issue.
Writing Against Estrangement in Galicia
As tempting as it is to think of morriña as a only another kind of homesickness, a better synonym might be estrangement.
Essays, or the Opening and Closing of the Okra Flowers During the Eclipse
When you say inspiration, what do you really mean?
bilingual
And They Say
i come from a family built on longing.
Voracious
Even though I hate her, my mother probably wrote me letters that she never sent.
[My mother works in a cannery]
Love is a work of art in a can.
bilingual
Alberte Merlo’s Horse
So began many long months of conversation between Alberte and his horse.
This, I Don’t Know
These are the years directly preceding the onset of vulnerability.
Stress
I suspect something in Kinue / reminds him of his own life.
Of Children and Sphincters
“I don’t know where to start.”
Café Culture: Writing from a Georgian Literary Festival
History Interrupted: Georgia’s Broken Thread
Geography has been destiny for Georgia and its literature.
The Southern Mammoth
"You’ve got to act fast in this city."
A Small Country
"People get killed for less nowadays..."
In Search of Lavrenti Beria
"The troika was the Holy Trinity of its time"
Falling Apart
"He can run from this business but he can’t hide."
Book Reviews
The Exact Number of Stars: André Naffis-Sahely Translates Ribka Sibhatu
Reviewed by Mona Kareem
The ongoing collaboration between Sibhatu and Naffis-Sahely confirms my belief that the connection between poet and translator is a lifetime commitment, to grow and write and think together.