To further support Action Books’ growing community of writers and readers, we’ve decided to launch a new initiative on the Action Books Blog. Selected by our editorial staff, a recurring series called Action Fokus will highlight excerpts from 12+ radical manuscripts submitted by poets and translators during our 2022 Open Reading Period. Today we feature excerpts from Erín Moure’s translation of Andrés Ajens’ So-Lair Storm.

For Chilean poet Andrés Ajens, poetry is a monstrosity big enough to shake colonialism and its disasters, capacious enough to allow him to push language to his brink and ours. And mine, as translator. If there is a constituting wound that both makes us human and makes us fail, it is this pushed language, in and of us. Ajens does not shy away, but is never harsh, always curious, yet demanding, as he word-pokes incessantly at history’s abcessive cartileginous jointure. Oh Americahs! When will we learn!

—Erín Moure

poema / libro.

la poesía anarrataria—nueva no vela aparte—anoticia en poesía;“escritura” e impremura de “lectura”. la narrataria narra raudamente el sucedido (tarda) como si afuera lloviera estrellas, o la autoimpresión grafoscilaria. se es anarra—cuando se es cifra y vice versa (la página blanca acciona lapalanca empalada en el aclimatado polvoluntarioso aguayo). ahí no hay hermeneia que valga. por eso, por su propio inconmentable peso, la poesía, anarrataria y/o no, aún en sus requiebres y disyun-ciones, es (palabra) ob-scène. si hay demasiada rosa en la prosa, franco decir orbeceltino, y aún habríamos de recalar la demasía del demasiado, comar del comodín intraduciente, la épica -íntima: tipo el cid, “furioso” o la araucana—, a salvo campana (lettera aperta), no repica más. anarrataria amoraleja: aleja el poema embajada, monta el suceso, desbroza la cosa, la roza no incinera trama.

poem / livre

anarrative poetry—newly peers in from apart—is the anews in poetry; “writing” and imp(r)etuous “reading.” the narranatter narrates niftily what took place (toolate) as if outside it’d rained stars, or graphoscillated self-printing. it’s anarrated—when ciphered and vice-versa (white page brightriggers the impaled palette in the acclimatized dusted-up aguayo), here no interpretation (via Aristotle) is of use. thus, by its own inconceivable weight, poetry, anarrative and/ or narranatter, even in its bits and disjunkshuns, is (word) ob-scènic. if there is too much rose in the prose, we say frankly orbeceltino, and still recall much of the too-much, gobble of the untranslateish joker, the epic-intimate: el cid style, “furious” or blue mapuche hen—, safe as a bell (lettera aperta) no longer rings out. anarrative is a-moralicious: off the embassy poem, hold the show, brush the thing off, give the all-clear without firing up plot.

CUENTO | CORTO

00000The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
00000Geography III, E. Bis-.

una vez, desvezada: una frase, sí
laba a sílaba des
co y un tad
a—nomás un tipo, su
funicular carácter de fondo prototípico, queda
mimándola (el tipo: “no significa nada”).

otra vez, vid a vid, otro sarmiento, misma mata:
“perder una é (ya perd una í) en el injerto
—prueba perder más rápido, perdiendo
más estrechamente todavía”.

una y otra, vez tal: sustraída
—encriptado en el tiempo, el tipo—(al mito),
abre campo al campo de los desgajados, d es
par r amad os n om br
e s salares, atópicos bultos insepultos.

—y—una roza temporera desbroza
antes del antes del después y del ahora,
de las solares imperdidas pérdidas—a un art e.

SHORT | STOR

00000The art of losing isn’t hard to master.
00000Geography III, E. Bis-.

once, sundered, one sentence, syl
labial to syllable dis
join ted, sev e
red — just one type of guy, his
funicular character of prototypical founding, still
mimicking it (the type: “it doesn’t mean anything”).

once again, one vine to vine, another vine-shoot, same vinery
“to los an e (an y alread lost) in the grafting
—tries losing faster, losing
more closely still.”

once and again, such a time: taken away
— the type, time-encrypted — (to myth),
opens the field to the field of the disengaged, d is
per sa l over name s salt fl
ats, atopical hummocks uncrypted

—and—as clearing temporarily razes clear
before the before of the after and the now,
sunclarities’ clearing’s unlost lost, unit—ed to one art.

IRREVOCABLE CAUDALÍTICO

qué haces otra vez aquí, fraserío
desprolijo, no con tu nombre
ni renombre milenario, taypi
qala, con el rocío sino
de tus sílabas pétreas?
ni añorar arañar al pre
sente desde la puerta
donde el arquepoeta pro
clamara que rodaban cabezas
como flores de los
cuatro rincones del mundo
en temporadas secas;
rocío [es] sin vuelta, frase
río por venir, piedragua con
jugándose a tientas

IRREVOCABLY FLOWING

what are you doing here again, phraseries
so unkempt not with your name
nor millennial fame, taypi
qala, with the dew but
with your stony syllables?
not yearning nor scraping in pre
senting from the door
where the archepoet’d pro
claimed that heads rolled
like flowers from the
four corners of the world
in seasons of drought;
dew [is] without return, phra
series yet to come, stonewater with
all that groping around

YAQHA LAYQA PHICHHITANKA

violeta parra manuscribió en bolivia
gracias a la vida—el sesenta y seis
pa’ marcar territorio, pa’ que ninguna
changuita le levantara al gringo favre

y en las multitudes al hombre que yo amo
y la voz tan tierna de mi bienamado
y la casa tuya, tu calle, tu patio
cuando miro el fondo de tus ojos claros

violeta parra escribió en la peña nayra
gracias a la vida—el sesenta y seis
y de la paz se trajo el revólver tigre
que acabó con todo a las seis de la tarde

cómo volver de la paz y no arrasar
cómo no volver a chuqiyapu marka
cómo no domar al tigre ni marcar
territorios y vivir para cantarla

el canto de ustedes, layqa phichhitanka,
que es el mismo canto? kunats larch’ukista.
¿y el canto de todos, mä lurawix tu-
putaw, que es mi propio canto, sasaw si

pa’ir traduciendo, pa’ir ya recalando
la breva: atesta un zampoñero de marka
en la carpa de la reina en los sesenta
que cuando alguien la llamaba respondía
mar para bolivia, hay sí, violeta parra

gracias a la vida, layqa phichhitanka;
layqa phichhitanka kunats larch’ukista.

YAQHA LAYQA PHICHHITANKA i

violeta parra manuscribbling in bolivia
gracias a la vida—in sixty six
t’stake out ground, so’s no babe
‘d blag off with her gringo favre

and in the crowds the man I love
and my beloved’s voice so tender
and the house that’s yours, your street, your garden
when I look deep into your blue eyes

in sixty-six violeta parra wrote
gracias a la vida in the peña nayra
and from la paz brought her Tiger pistol
that put an end to it all at six p.m.

how to come back from la paz and not destroy
how not to go back to chuqiyapu marka
how to neither tame the tiger nor stake out
ground and live to sing it

your song for all, layqa phichhitanka,
is it the same song still? kunats larch’ukista
and everyone’s song, mä lurawix tu-
putaw, my very song it is too, sasaw yes

t’go on translating, t’go on claiming the
fruit of the shore: a zampoña player from marka
claims that in the Carpa de la Reina in the sixties
when someone called for her she’d answer
sea for bolivia, oh sí, violeta parra

gracias a la vida, layqa phichhitanka;
layqa phichhitanka kunats larch’ukista.

en sazonante pasaje de la historia de la verdad
alias Wahrhaftige Historia, por vez primera
impresa en Marburgo, en 1567, Hans Staden
da a entender que dios es su editor – à la lettre: Gott
ist meyn nothelffer—y reiteradamente le da crédito
en total: Gott / der alles in allem ist. en otro
pasaje, menos marchante, más sabroso
el humano en desamparo alias escritor
le echa en cara a Kuimba’e Bebe, su tupí benecaptor
la infranimal costumbre de comerse al otro
escritor: si raramente un jaguar se come a otro
jaguar, muy menos un humano a otro
cómele la mano—saboreando los restos
de un dedo cordial, dicho Bebe retraza su
dicha al pasar: “yawara iché” [‘soy jaguar’]

in a lipsmacking lineation from the history of the truth
alias Wahrhaftige Historia, first
printed in Marburg, in 1567, Hans Staden
makes it clear that god is his editor—à la lettre: Gott
ist meyn Nothelffer—and he gives him credit repeatedly
for everything: Gott / der alles in allem ist. in another
passage, less mercantile, more tastily
the defenceless human alias writer
reproaches Kuimba’e Bebe, his Tupí benecaptor
for the infranimal custom of eating another
writer: rare enough for a jaguar to eat another
jaguar, let alone one human eating
the hand of another— savouring the remains
of a finger cordial, the said Bebe reimbibes his
joy in passing: “yawara iché” [“jaguar is me”]

STRATEGIC PLANNING

en el aire, entre ráfagas, claros y vacancias
el planeador sin motor no es

que en absoluto en la altura no maniobre

tomado por aéreos dinamismos
responde hasta cierto incierto punto, con

cuerda su desliz, deslizamiento
con faenas de viento que lo inspira y refrigera, su

fuselaje ligero, a puro

pulso su impulso, trama y/o trauma—nomás al vuelo
de un motivo a años luz sobrevenido, vuelo bisabuelo

avista un cúmulo lúcumo jamás antes visto, se alza en espiral, planea

una corriente fresca lo acerca al camino, revuela
un panel carretero dichoso en inglés arriba (abajo)—se eleva

qué tiempo, flor de aliento ascendente y descendente
ya lo llama a tierra, lo presiente, y terrosa

te roza

STRATEGhIC PLANeING

airborne, amidst gusts, glades, and glyphors
the motorless glider is not

really absolutely up to the manoeuvre

seized by aerial dynamisms
it answers up to a certain uncertain point, to

rope in its slip, a slippage
in busyworks of wind that breathe it in and chill it, its

light fuselage, to pure

pulse its impulse, drama and/or trauma-—on the fly
from a motive to light years that ensue. great-grandpa flight

spies a kingly cumulus never before seen, spirals up, coasts along

a fresh current brings it nearer the road, stirs
a lucky roadsign in English above (below)—rises

in time, breathflower ascending and descending
yet calls it to earth, feels its present, and earthily (artfully)

to U ches down

ESTUDIOS BOLIVIANOS Nº 11

quillacollo, plan tres mil
tocnolencias, taypi qala
chulumani, arzans, huari
camba colla insuperable
adela zamudio, saya
real potosí, el lago
moxos, morón de los robles
el loco, la noche, ataw
wallpap, pachacuti yamqui
salcamaygua, terremoto
de sicasica, llallagua
mocochinche, ají de lengua
melgar y montaño, lara
chayanta, beltrán, churata
razón, el deber, los tiempos
incendio de unos legajos
de gabriel rené moreno
en santiago, villazón
posvelar, yacuiba, illapa
un pajarillo llamado
pazos kanki, mané, charcas
el prado, colón, la blanca
cine campero, la ceja
sorojche, miss litoral
guayaramerín, luzmila
shinahota, llajua, el cé
águila sideral, viña de bruma
la concepción, cobija
gracias a la vida, el che
adela zamudio, saya

LEARNING BOLIVIAN Nº 11 ix

Quillacollo, Plan 3000,
Tocnolencias, Taypi Qala
Chulumani, Arzáns, Huari
Camba Colla incomparable
Adela Zamudio, la saya
Real Potosí, Lake
Moxos, Morón of the oaks
El Loco, La Noche, ataw
wallpap, Pachacuti Yamqui
Salcamaygua, earthquake
at Sica Sica, Llallagua
mocochinchi, spiced tongue
Melgar y Montaño, Lara
Chayanta, Beltrán, Churata
La Razón, El Deber, Los Tiempos
Gabriel René Moreno’s
files set on fire
in Santiago, Villazón
uvular, Yacuiba, Illapa
a wee bird named
Pazos Kanki, mané, Charcas
El Prado, Colón, la blanca
Campero Theatre, La Ceja
Soroche, Miss Litoral
Guayaramerín, Luzmila
Shinahota, hot llajua sauce, El Cé
Águila Sideral, hazy vines
La Concepción, Cobija
gracias a la vida, El Che
Adela Zamudio, la saya

Andrés Ajens is an Andean-Chilean writer, author of fifteen books of poetry, creative non-fiction, and translation. In poetry, his most recent titles: La guaCa húmera (Santiago, 2022), Cúmulo lúcumo (La Paz/Santiago, 2016), Æ (Santiago, 2015), Bolivian Sea (Macao, 2015) y Viagem a Santiago (Santiago, 2014). In creative non-fiction: La golondrina húmera y otros poemas de Paul Celan (Santiago, 2022), La flor del extérmino (Buenos Aires/New York, 2011), El entrevero (La Paz/Santiago, 2009) y La últimacarta de Rimbaud (Santiago, 1996). He has translated F. Pessoa, R. Bopp, J. Guimarães Rosa and others. He currently coordinates the magazine of poetry and related herbals Mar con soroche (Santiago/La Paz) and teaches Andean literature and textualities in the ex-Pedagogical Center of the University of Chile, in Santiago. Canadian poet Erín Moure brought a selection of his early poetry into English as quase flanders, quase extremadura (CCCP, Cambridge, UK, 2001; La mano izquierda, Victoria, Canada., 2008); his book of essays, La flor del extérmino appeared in English as Poetry After the Invention of América. Don’t Light the Flower, translated by Michelle Gil-Montero (Palgrave-Macmillan, New York, 2011). Moure’s expanded edition of selected poems, So-Lair Storm, as yet unpublished, is the source of the poems published here.

Erín Moure is a poet and translator with eighteen books of poetry, a coauthored book of poetry, a volume of essays, a book of articles on translation, a poetics, and two memoirs; she has translated or co-translated twenty-one books of poetry and two of biopoetics from French, Spanish, Galician, Portuguese, and Ukrainian into English, by poets such as Nicole Brossard (with Robert Majzels), Andrés Ajens, Chantal Neveu, François Turcot, Rosalía de Castro, Chus Pato, Uxío Novoneyra, Lupe Gómez (with Rebeca Lema Martínez and on her own), Fernando Pessoa, and Yuri Izdryk (with Roman Ivashkiv). She also translates poetry from Galician and English into French. Three of her own books in English have appeared in translation, one each in German, Galician, and French. Her work has received the Governor General’s Award in Canada twice, Pat Lowther Memorial Award, A. M. Klein Prize twice, and has been a three-time finalist for the Griffin Prize and three-time finalist for a Best Translated Book Award (Poetry). Her own latest is The Elements (Anansi, 2019) and Theophylline: an a-poretic migration, will appear from Anansi in 2023. You can find her at erinmoure.mystrikingly.com.