The Duration of the Vorage
Luisa Futoransky
bilingual, translated by Jason Weiss
96 pages perfectbound
$11.00
ISBN 1-881523-07-1
“An exile with a deep nostalgia for a coherent past, Futoransky is paradoxically at home in a world of fluid, sometimes
tormented global identities. Born in Buenos Aires, Futoransky...has lived in Israel, Japan, China, Spain and elsewhere in Europe.
In her first English-language collection she exhibits a magical-realist fecundity that transforms itself to suit each new locale. In
‘To Trujillo, with Love’ she finds ‘virgins showing off/little artichokes/like delightful trophies of their majesty.’ ‘Insomnia on
the Rue de Charenton,’ set in Paris, where she has lived since 1981, is a list of ‘the friendly noises that unknown inhabitants
offer me.’ ...‘Jerusa, My Love’ tracks ‘the injustices/the stratifications, the wells’ of Israel’s metropolis. ...‘The wandering jew
sets off with her knapsack of baubles and trinkets,’ reports the speaker of ‘End of the Poem,’ proceeding on a journey through
which ‘I shall forget...all the tongues and moans and mirages and backwaters and I shall move no more.’ Beautifully translated
from the Spanish provided en face.”
- Publishers Weekly