The editors of this journal have succeeded in presenting a beautiful cross-section of current American Poetry in Spanish, in English and in translation. By American poetry, I mean that in the true sense of the word, the larger sense; America is, after all, two continents. This collection celebrates that fact and serves as a much-needed reminder of the cultural continuity and deep shared history of the Americas (something that is much needed in this age of border walls and other nationalistic dumbassery).
This is a truly bilingual collection, with work in Spanish, English and in both languages, but readers should not be intimidated by the fact that many of the Spanish-language poems are presented without translation. This collection still has a lot to offer; bilingual poetry fans should buy and read this collection as soon as possible. The translations featured in this collection, such as "StoneFish" by Paura Rodriguez Leyton, and "Today While Eating Veal Cutlets" by Ana Maria Shua, are among the most deeply satisfying poems I’ve read in recent memory.
The work in this first issue of the Cigar City Poetry Journal is diverse in style as well as language. Collections like this can sometimes have an overly narrow focus on a specific style or subject, or may be dominated by the tastes of an overbearing narrator. Unfortunately, many poetry journals exist, not to be read, but to provide publication opportunities for academic CVs — and as such are only really read by the people who are trying to get published in them. Cigar City Poetry, however, is a publication to be read and enjoyed, with work that evokes a wide range of human experience — from the mysteries of grief ("To the Pair of Mourning Doves that just landed in the Tree Outside my Window and the Huntsman Cancer Institute" by Jay Hopler) to frenetic eroticism ("The Dancer from Aurangubad" by Jorgenrique ) to techno-paranoia ("Human Molars" by Jerrod Schwarz) and to facing the strange future of rising seas ("Harvest Moon — The Tide Rises Almost To my Door" by Ariel Francisco)
Finally, it’s wonderful to see several Tampa Bay poets so well represented in such an excellent, and truly global, collection of poetry. In a way, this journal is a sweeping survey of current work from North American, Central America, South America and the Caribbean, and Tampa Bay is the symbolic pivot point where we clearly see the convergence of geography and culture; appropriately, the Journal will host its first public reading in Ybor Square this Saturday.
Cigar City Poetry: Inaugural Release Reading | Ybor Square, 1901 N. 13th St., Ybor City | Jan. 19: 4-8 p.m. | cigarcitypoetryjournal.org | Subscribe to Creative Loafing's weekly Do This newsletter
This article appears in Jan 10-17, 2019.