Mauve Sea-Orchids

by Lila Zemborain

Poetry. Latino/Latina Studies. Translated from the Spanish by Rosa Alcala & Monica de la Torre. "Lila Zemborain brings into relationship the viscera of the body and the spill of the universe in tense compositions that blur distinctions between lyric and prose poetry, between science and eros"--Forrest Gander. And Jonathan Skinner notes, "Alcala and de la Torre's deft and calm translations offer a superb guide into the hanging gardens of a new, and very old, poetic landscape."

Genres: Poetry

104 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2007

Reviews

[Bonnie Jean Michalski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredibly original, toying with a weird blend of scientific language and the utterly sensual. Its imagery washes over you and in a way that is cumulative. In other words, read it in one sitting. Imagine a contemporary book of poetry where all the poems are center justified, and imagine it is GOOD. THIS BOOK IS GOOD.

or

Few books are this arresting both in content and physicality. The facing-page Spanish translations of these center-justified poems convey a complete balance of instinct and intellect. The scientific becomes lyric and the lyric becomes scientific in a way that points toward a sense of beauty that readers have been taught to mistrust. These poems engage language as a stimulus so that reading becomes an act of substantive beauty.

[Speakwright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lila uses medical and oceanographic language to discuss the inter-penetrability and multiplicity contained within the body, a slippery and absorbing meditation.