Aguas/Waters - by Miguel Avero (Paperback)

About the Book

Aguas/Waters introduces Uruguayan poet Miguel Avero in a bilingual edition that matches each Spanish poem with a translation by poet Jona Colson.

Book Synopsis

Aguas/Waters introduces the rich and vibrant imagery of Uruguayan poet Miguel Avero to the English-speaking world. Selected works from two of his early collections highlight the legacy of magical realism and rioplatense rhythms in this prolific poet's fierce style. This first bilingual edition matches each original Spanish poem with an inspired translation by Washington D.C. poet Jona Colson. Aguas/Waters is the premier selection in the Biennial WWPH Translation Series.

Review Quotes

Uruguay is a country full of poetry, more and more available in bilingual editions in the U.S. Now we are lucky to have the wonderful Aguas/Waters by Miguel Avero in a translation by Jona Colson that moves Avero's Spanish into fluid and musical English. Avero is a poet of identity, history, and memory and Aguas/Waters is a book that sings, that carries you from the first poem to the last, each alert to the terrible beauty of life.

Jesse Lee Kercheval, Editor of América Invertida: An Anthology of Emerging Uruguayan Poets

Aquí dos libros de Miguel Avero para que el lector angloparlante pueda sumergirse en su poesía. Su inicial, consistente y límpido: Arca de Aserrín. Su doméstico, intertextual y profundo: La Pieza. Un autor, joven en edad y maduro en su escritura, con 7 libros en su haber, que tengo la fortuna de conocer personalmente y leer nuevamente, en esta hidratante selección de Jona Colson. Aquí su obra es un ventanal abierto al ayer que transforma a los lectores en niños mirando el cielo y en adultos esperando al Sol, luego de la lluvia y sus consecuencias. Porque: "el cielo nos observa/ como a un desnudo abismo, / el agua establece/ su hegemonía celeste".

Here are two books by Miguel Avero that the English-speaking reader can immerse themselves in. His initial, consistent, and limpid: Sawdust Arc. The domestic, intertextual, and profound: The Room. An author, young in age and mature in writing, with seven books to his credit, I am fortunate to know personally and read again, in this hydrating selection by Jona Colson. Here Avero's work is an open window that transforms readers into children looking at the sky and adults waiting for the sun after the rain because: "the sky observes us / like a naked abyss, / water establishes / its celestial hegemony."

Javier Etchevarren

Author of Fable of an Inconsolable Man