A Sun Behind Us / Un sol cado avanza

(Paperback)

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MARA AUXILIADORA LVAREZ'S winning entry of the Paz Prize for Poetry is in many ways a loving memoriam to her father, Oswaldo lvarez Rojas, and a celebration of the long embrace that still warms Mara, her seven siblings, and their mother. Her poems explore sunlight as a metaphor for her father, holding her up from behind, illuminating her path forward, and also shining a light on memory, igniting nostalgia, and overcoming the grief of loss.

Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, "Believe me, everything depends on this: to have had, once in your life, a sacred spring that fills the heart with so much light that it is enough to transfigure all coming days." In A Sun Behind Us, the poet's father is the sacred spring. "My father," writes lvarez, "is in all my writing, and his writing is in all my family, keeping us standing tall even after his sudden departure, following a brief illness. His positive influence is still the sun behind our back, projected beyond our horizon. The potent lighthouse in our life as nomads. Illuminated by the same ray of light, the eight children together form a compact stained-glass window, now dividing the fifty-two weeks of the year among ourselves, each taking our turn in caring for our mother beside the Florida sea, where she still smiles each morning. Even those who live far away travel without hesitation to fulfill a promise whispered along with our father's last breath."

lvarez's book was selected for the Paz Prize for Poetry by the Cuban poet Germn Guerra.

A Sun Behind Us/Un sol cado avanzarepresenta el iluminado poemario ganador del Premio Paz de Poesa otorgado por la Serie Nacional de Poesa. El libro premiado en el ao 2024 ha sido seleccionado por Germn Guerra y ser publicado en edicin bilinge (espaol-ingls).

Esta obra de MARA AUXILIADORA LVAREZ, ganadora del Premio Paz de Poesa, es en muchos sentidos un recuento de la memoria y los mundos perdidos a consecuencia de la inmigracin, como la familia, los amigos y la lengua. Es tambin un amoroso recuerdo de su padre, Oswaldo lvarez Rojas, y una celebracin del largo abrazo que se mantiene tibio en la memoria de Mara Auxiliadora, sus siete hermanos y su madre. Los poemas exploran la luz del sol como metfora del padre sostenindolos detrs, iluminando su camino hacia adelante para arrojar luz sobre las sombras, encender la nostalgia y ayudar a superar el dolor de la prdida.

Segn Rainer Maria Rilke, "todo depende de haber tenido, una vez en la vida, una primavera sagrada que llene el corazn de tanta luz que baste para transfigurar todos los das venideros". En A Sun Behind Us/Un sol cado avanza, el padre de la poeta representa la primavera sagrada. "Mi padre", escribe lvarez, "est presente en toda mi escritura, y su escritura est presente en toda mi familia, mantenindonos erguidos incluso despus de su repentina partida tras una breve enfermedad. Su benfica influencia sigue siendo el sol a nuestras espaldas, proyectndose sobre el horizonte. El faro potente en nuestra vida de nmadas. Iluminados por el mismo rayo de luz, los ocho hijos formamos un compacto vitral, dividiendo las cincuenta y dos semanas del ao entre nosotros, para tomar cada uno su turno en el cuidado de nuestra madre junto al mar de Florida, donde ella todava sonre cada maana. Incluso los que viven lejos viajan puntualmente para cumplir la promesa susurrada junto al ltimo aliento de nuestro padre".

Author Bio

MARA AUXILIADORA LVAREZ was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1956 and has been a professor emerita at Miami University, Ohio, since 2023. Growing up in different countries due to her father's diplomatic career, she settled in the United States in 1996, where she received a master's degree and doctorate in Spanish literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research areas include mystical/contemporary poetry; pre-Columbian/colonial cultures; and women, cultural, and interdisciplinary studies. She has published several critical articles in literary journals, two essay collections, and fourteen volumes of poetry.