Palabras Errantes Latin American Literature in Translation
Mexican Speculative Fiction
The Conqueror’s Elastic Entrails
By Bernardo Fernández. Translated by Lucy Greaves. For Gerardo Horacio Porcayo español Accountant Rabindranath Jiménez rechecked the data showing on the micro-screen implanted in his retina. Apparently the planet in question was rich in copper. Extraordinarily rich in copper. He had a last check through the results that the Corporation’s probe had sent back. […]
The blood our heroes shed
Written by Bernardo Fernández in collaboration with Gerardo Sifuentes. Translated by Isabelle Chaize. español If all our dreams came true, the world would become a nightmare John Updike 1 Brazil, 1979 A few hundred metres below us Carnival seethed. Rio was a madhouse without walls. But up here, in our penthouse, his back to the […]
The Latin Cities
By Alberto Chimal. Translated by Fionn Petch. español A, of the many entrances: its walls are made of doors and the inhabitants all have a window to the front – whether painted or not we do not know. B, which is mounted on vast wooden platforms and pulled back and forth across the plain by […]
Twenty About Robots
By Alberto Chimal. Translated by Fionn Petch. For Bernardo Fernández Bef español 00000 “Robots’ dreams taste of oil and electricity, like anyone else’s. But they have flowers and crystals no one else can see, unfathomable anguish, logical snares…” “Do humans’ dreams taste of oil and electricity too, then, teacher?” “Within a few centuries we […]
Abduct me
By Gerardo Sifuentes. Translated by Paul Merchant. español Once my neighbour saw lights in the sky. That’s why he watched it constantly, because he thought they’d bring him a message from another planet, and while he waited he spent his afternoons on the rooftop with a pair of binoculars and a six-pack of Tecate. His […]
Homme Fatal
By Gabriela Fonseca. Translated by Carolina Orloff. español Out of all the questions that remain with me, the main one is this: when exactly did I lose myself? I am watching José sleep and it seems as if his heart, his brain and even his behind have a restless life of their own. He rolls […]
The other night of Tlatelolco
By Bernardo Esquinca. Translated by Elsa M. Treviño. español His brain switched on like a TV. It was night, cold and raining, but in his new condition those details were irrelevant. He might as well be in the desert, under an infernal sun, in forty-degree heat. Shadows and forms moved around him. Little by little, […]
The Erosion of Ink
By Gerardo Piña. Translated by Lawrence Schimel español At first, it didn’t seem strange to me. The fourth volume of the complete works of the German anthropologist Thomas W. Heinrich had remained in my library for over forty years and I had never consulted it. Therefore, I didn’t know what to think of the barely […]
Schrödinger’s Cat
By Gerardo Piña. Translated by Lawrence Schimel. español I knew that Vinicio Irigoyen had died because he told me so himself. Our meeting had not been entirely casual, since we both attended the presentation of Suárez’s latest book. At ten to eleven I decided to go home and on my doorstep he stopped me to […]
The Plague
By Erika Mergruen. Translated by Rachel Randall. español For as long as I can remember, I’ve lived in the southern district. We were just some snotty little kids when the borders were drawn: “Letters A to L, applications closed; Letters M to P, three days remain in which to validate your passport; Letters O to […]
The Second Sun
By Erika Mergruen. Translated by Rachel Randall. español Dawn was breaking. The entire plain was covered with a thin layer of cloud. The inhabitants were stretching, some in silence, others chanting a hymn bequeathed from one generation to the next. There arose the buzzing of insects, the roar of a predator and its victims’ fearless […]
Pisces
By Erika Mergruen. Translated by Rachel Randall. español It was so tempting to lose yourself in the spiral of that pearly shell. Perhaps the effect of its refraction through the glass and water made it appear more remarkable. It was so easy to sit in front of the tank and let the minutes pass, without […]
DENDROLOGY
By Arturo Vallejo. Translated by Jessica Sequeira. The woman was seated on a park bench taking photos of the trees with her smart phone. She wanted to identify all the species in the city. She had an apple in her hand, but had neglected it, so that the fruit was turning a nauseating coffee colour […]
THE PROBLEM OF THE APEIRON
By Arturo Vallejo. Translated by Jessica Sequeira. español The day she decided to leave the house, after having spent weeks cooped up, three things were very clear to her. The first was that she had always been a deeply unhappy woman; even if it seems exaggerated to say so, nobody had ever seen her smile. […]
The Present
By Rafael Villegas. Translated by Julia Sanches. español Even after so many years, the old southbound tunnel is still the most efficient one. My mother once told me that her parents’ parents had met on the first journey of “The Needle”. I wonder how it happened. They say it was so noisy back then that […]
Parallax
By Rafael Villegas. Translated by Julia Sanches. español Bulnes visits the walled city of quiet streets. He can smell the fish rotting from afar, on the beach, visible only to the few Japanese and English sailors who are still mourning the sunken ships: their Caravelle, their Vasco da Gama, their Tanais, those wooden bellies, like […]
The Lotus Eater
By Agustín Fest. Translated by Will Carne. español AP. AM. N. “Why are we weigh’d upon with heaviness, And utterly consumed with sharp distress, While all things else have rest from weariness? All things have rest: why should we toil alone (…)” Alfred Tennyson. Life has become more interesting. Stretched out in front of […]
Ring a Ring o’ Roses
By Raquel Castro. Translated by Ruth Clarke español Once, for my birthday, I got a zombie. He was the cutest thing: grumbly, stinky, slight homicidal tendencies. Really sweet. I couldn’t wait for school to start so I could take him to class with me (the kids always brought their toys in after Christmas or their […]
Love Story
By Raquel Castro. Translated by Ruth Clarke. español 1 A fortnight on a diet of Whiskas would drive anyone crazy. All the more so if, on top of that, you add the fact that through the peephole in the front door I can see my boyfriend: half his face bitten off, minus an arm, and […]
Fireflies Shine on the Sword
By Édgar Omar Avilés. Translated by Katie Brown. en español Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away. Philip K. Dick I What is the Universe? The answer turns out to be remarkably simple. Poetically revealing. But Doctor Nezahualcóyotl doesn’t like it. It leaves no space for hope. He […]
Music and Petals
By Gabriela Damián. Translated by Megan Berkobien. en español Tuesday Every time I go downstairs, I hear it. I don’t want to go; it scares me. The music is horrible. They yell out my name and I know they’ll ask me to go down there, but I don’t want to. There are always things to […]
The Bridge
By Gabriela Damián. Translated by Megan Berkobien. en español I’ve dreamt about her every night for a month. I’m sure that others might find it awful, but for me, up until last night, it was comforting. I was always close to my aunt, and her death filled me with bitter nostalgia. I look into the […]
The Max Power Incident
By Alejandro Badillo. Translated by Jennifer Early. en español On the evening of the 22nd March, 1997, Max Power went to the premier of the French film Le rouge et le noir. The title refers to the novel by Stendhal, but that was the only thing they had in common. The story, written by a […]
Has anyone seen this woman?
By Karen Chacek. Translated by Slava Faybysh . en español Jana’s invited me over to eat again. We live next door to each other—she’s at number five and I’m at number six. She has avoided being alone with her four-year-old daughter Raquel for the past few days. She tells me the child says hello to […]