By Elizabeth Elin, junior Theology and English Major from Terrace Park, OH
LATROBE, PA – Eulalia Books, a publisher of poetry-in-translation housed at Saint Vincent College, has released “Another Life,” written by Daniel Lipara and translated by Robin Myers. The original Spanish publication, “Otra Vida,” is Lipara’s first book of poetry. Myers has translated several books from Spanish, including “The Restless Dead” by major Mexican writer Cristina Rivera Garza (Vanderbilt University Press).
“Another Life” is a family history, an intimate epic, a travel story and an initiation, and it responds to both “The Odyssey” and Alice Oswald’s “Memorial.” Emily Wilson, first woman translator of “The Odyssey,” calls it “a vivid, evocative account of family, place and memory, through Homeric poetry and myth, beautifully translated by Robin Myers.”
Myers was instantly drawn to the book for its “quiet, observant warmth,” and “was moved by the awakening documented” throughout the poems. She noted that she “strived to protect the gesturality of this poem, which is both purposeful and free,” and which “highlights how [present and past] forever fold into each other in a way that linear narrative can never contain.”
Scottish poet John Burnside writes that “Another Life” explores “family, spiritual discovery, the recovery of myth and what it means when we use words like ‘sacred,’ or ‘soul,’” and does so “with grace, compassion and deft humor.” He adds that, “’Another Life’ is one of the finest books of poetry that I have read in some time.”
The book’s English title is a translation of its Spanish title, “Otra Vida,” and its cover art originates from a painting by Eulalia co-editor Román Antopolsky.
Eulalia will be hosting an event to celebrate the book’s release in conjunction with White Whale Bookstore on Monday, Sept. 27, at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom as part of the college’s Visiting Writer Series. The event will feature a reading and book talk by Lipara, in conversation with Myers. Those wishing to attend must register at whitewhalebookstore.eventbrite.com by 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 27. Both free and pay-what-you-can tickets are available.
Eulalia Books is a part of Saint Vincent College’s literary translation program, a conjunctive effort of the English and Modern Language departments. Its mission is to publish modern and contemporary poets who do not yet have a collection translated into English.
To learn more about upcoming Eulalia Books publications, events and more, visit its website at www.eulaliabooks.com, follow on Instagram and Twitter (both @Eulalia_Books) and “like” on Facebook at Eulalia Books.