Literal Magazine

Essay

Not Free But Comfy: Cuban Art Between State and Market

Yvon Grenier

“The state artist recognizes that the only freedom within the socialist system is that of participation” Miklós Haraszti, The Velvet Prison: Artists Under State Socialism (1987) More Equal than Others…

Essay

“Cruzando puentes”… Literature as Translation

R. Lane Kauffmann

On this too rare occasion—the publication of an English-language anthology featuring selected poems and short fiction from a dozen of Spain’s best contemporary writers —I have the pleasure of commenting…

Essay

Álvaro Mutis (1923-2013), In Memoriam Un gigante que se alimenta de leyendas

Adolfo Castañón

Fragmento de la conferencia pronunciada por Adolfo Castañón el pasado 26 de agosto para celebrar los 90 años de Álvaro Mutis en un acto organizado por la Universidad Nacional de…

Essay

Cars Are The Bones of Everything, The Runes of my Life Love Cars

Peter Behrens

I could tell you I’m interested in cars, but that sounds all wrong in terms of their place in my life. I’m interested in a lot of things: Irish history,…

Essay

Shadow

Sombra

Jazmina Barrera Velázquez

English translation by Dave Oliphant Soy como el hombre que vendió su sombra, o mejor, como la sombra del hombre que la vendió. Fernando Pessoa Every day we attest to…

Essay

Sex, Sexuality, Eroticism

Sexo, sexualidad, erotismo

Anacristina Rossi

Translated by Carol Polsgrove and Paloma Fernández Sánchez (from El lado oscuro: ensayos sobre violencia) From the editorial meeting emerged the topic: writing an essay on sex. I took…

Essay

Beware Walmart’s Role in the Gun Control Debate

En el debate sobre el control de armas, cuidado con Walmart

George Zornick

As Vice President Joe Biden plotted his task force’s plan of action on gun control this week, he invited Walmart representatives to the White House to talk about it. That…

Essay

From Classic Dilemmas For Mexicans And Other Survivors Democracy of The Nameless Dead

Pablo Boullosa

English translation by Tanya Huntington An alleged democracy that is not anchored, first and foremost, in a sympathetic awareness of the dignity of man is reduced to nothing more than…

Essay

From The Book of Explanations Instinct Enraptured by Pain

Tedi López Mills

English translation by Tanya Huntington The body stretches out in bed. Eyes open to gaze at the curtain and the thread of daylight that crosses over to the white wall.…

Essay

Derek Walcott en Xalapa

Adolfo Castañón

Huyendo de la persecución política, el poeta venezolano Rafael Cadenas se refugió en la Isla de Trinidad entre 1952 y 1956. Ahí cayó en sus manos un pequeño libro que…

Essay

Can You Keep a Secret? Well, Translators Can’t

Tanya Huntington

In fact, that is pretty much what we do: take the best-kept secrets of a literary tradition and reveal them to readers of other languages –generally, our own native tongues.…

Essay

Oppression Never Sleeps

Tony Díaz

When the Nazis first set fire to books, there were some people who said, “Don’t worry, they’re burning only paper.” Other people formed the Resistance. We are part of the…