Erica Mena

Poet | Book Artist | Translator

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Tag: political poetry

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Don't Let Me Be Lonely by Claudia Rankine

December 3, 2013 by Erica Mena

Is it a prose poem? A lyric essay? A hybrid essay-poem? A hybrid poem-memoir? Yes. I’ve long contended that genre is mostly useful to define reading strategy (define? demand? encourage?). We read a poem differently than we do a memoir. Or an essay. And I’ve also suggested to my non-fiction writing friends that poetry and non-fiction have more in common than most realize. Except for those working between those forms: Susan Howe, Anna Joy Springer. Poetry lends a freedom that […]

Categories: Poetry, Reading Journal • Tags: claudia rankine, don't let me be lonely, lyric essay, poetry, political poetry, prose poetry, september 11

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Reading the World #9: Martha Collins

March 28, 2011 by Erica Mena

Erica Mena (that’s me!) and special co-host Mike Schorsch talk with translator and poet Martha Collins about translation as political action, and translation of Vietnamese poetry. Martha is an amazing poet, my first translation workshop teacher, and big influence in my work and in my life. We recorded this last year (!) at AWP in Denver, and it was such a treat to get to talk with her about her work. This is one of my favorite podcasts to date, […]

Categories: Podcasts • Tags: Martha Collins, podcast, poetry, political poetry, Reading the World, translation, Vietnam, Vietnamese poetry

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Voices from the Bitter Core

February 17, 2011 by Erica Mena

Voices from the Bitter Core by Ursula Krechel, trans. Amy Kepple Strawser (Host Publications, 2010). Ambitious in scope, and stunningly executed. The voices that blur together and pull apart are simultaneously sympathetic and horrific, the collage technique at once jarring and unifying. This is a work of paradoxes, of dissonance and contradiction, an utterly human work. In its examination of the voices of war it implicitly questions the rationale for killing, without falling into propaganda. The work collapses time, moving […]

Categories: Reviews, Translation • Tags: experimental poetry, poetry, political poetry, review, translation

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Mateo Morrison (DR Books #2)

February 12, 2011 by Erica Mena

Ojos de madre, vientos de guerra by Mateo Morrison. Mateo Morrison (1946-) is a poet-lawyer who upholds the tradition of advocacy in his work. He’s published 36 books of poetry, criticism and essays. In 2010 he was awarded the National Literature Prize, which is the most significant literary prize in the Dominican Republic. He’s incredibly prolific, and clearly indebted to Neruda in his work. This book is written for the 45th anniversary of the revolution in April 1965 which led […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: Dominican Republic, Mateo Morrison, poetry, political poetry, translation

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Alfredo Matilla Rivas (PR Books #8)

February 2, 2011 by Erica Mena

yo no soy novia de nadie by Alfredo Matilla Rivas (Editorial Renopla, 1973). Alfredo Matilla Rivas (1938-2001) was a renowned diaspora poet and playwright, as well as Pedro Pietre’s translator into Spanish. A comprehensive biography for him is here, and they say: “In literature, he published two books of poetry, titled Yo no soy novia de nadie (1973) and Catálogo de locos (1978). In his verses, he used a prosaic tone to describe both the social and political conditions of Puerto Ricans.” He taught […]

Categories: Uncategorized • Tags: Alfredo Matilla Rivas, experimental poetry, poetry, political poetry, Puerto Rico

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Responsible Writing

January 26, 2011 by Erica Mena

I’ve been thinking, and talking, a lot about political poetry. It’s something I’m deeply interested in – which I often find at least on the surface conflicting with my interest in experimental literature. They seem to occupy different ends of a spectrum. Poetry that is politically and socially engaged tends towards directness, clarity of expression and obvious subjects of engagement. Poetry that is experimental tends towards obscurity, complex and convoluted expression and abstracted subjects of engagement. Do they ever meet? […]

Categories: Poetry • Tags: Alain Badiou, experimental poetry, political poetry

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Subversive Poetry

January 20, 2011 by Erica Mena

So I’m not slacking in my book-a-day goal, though yes, I’m slacking on posting here. The book I finished a few days ago was Martín Espada’s The Lover of a Subversive is Also a Subversive. It was (as I expected it would be) extraordinary. Martín is, for anyone who doesn’t know, an incredibly prolific contemporary Puerto Rican poet who writes in English and teaches at UMass Amherst. He started his professional life as a lawyer, and in the first essay […]

Categories: Poetry, Reviews • Tags: Martín Espada, poetry, political poetry, Puerto Rico, reviews

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