Our graduate student, Celia M. Ayala, recently published a book of poems titled Diario de un Labial Atrofiado: Vivencias y Fantasías. Here’s the author’s description and information about it.
Diario de un Labial Atrofiado: Vivencias y Fantasías is a bilingual “poemario,” where experiences and dreams come alive in technicolor. Published by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, on April 18, 2017, it is a replay of scenes, where the author experienced love, passion, and the struggles of being a Caribbean female figure. Questions of femininity, sexuality, and oppression were at stake when the author explored different journeys, leading her into paths of Nirvana and the great chasms of despair. As the author climbed the stairs of life, she wrote a page for each staircase, conceiving this intricately carved publication. The author combines elements of fiction with allusions to some of her preferable pieces of children’s literature, a homage to her Caribbean roots, and playing with English and Spanish, conveying diverse audiences. The use of traditional poetics to break conventions, as well as free verse, is also present in this anthology.
Diario de un Labial Atrofiado: Vivencias y Fantasías is available in paperback on Amazon, CreateSpace, and Barnes & Noble. For the Kindle version, you may check Amazon Kindle.
The following is a bilingual review of the book:
“El deseo nos hace esclavos del tiempo y la realidad. Diario de un Labial Atrofiado explora la feminidad a gran escala. En cada verso se puede apreciar el dolor y la pasión que ha sentido la autora. Versos precisos y abstractos que crean en el lector un fulgor de explorar las razones por la cual existen los poemas. Celia Margarita combinó todos los aspectos de la sexualidad, el amor y la opresión para resaltar la figura femenina. En el proceso de lectura te adentrarás a la poesía que solo se puede descifrar con las vivencias y experiencias de un mundo donde todo rodea al cero y las oportunidades. Es involucrarte bajo el reflejo de la luna, la armonía del Caribe y el dulce licor que destila de nuestros poros.” – Anthony Acevedo Rodríguez, Escritor puertorriqueño
“Desire makes us slaves of time and reality. Diario de un Labial Atrofiado explores feminity to a great scale. In each verse the pain and passion felt by the author can be appreciated. Precise and abstract verses that create in the reader a fire in exploring the reasons by the which these poems exist. Celia Margarita combined every aspect of sexuality, love, and oppression to exalt the feminine figure. In the reading process you will delve into poetry that can only be deciphered with experiences of a world where everything surrounds nothing and opportunities. It is involving yourself under the moon’s reflection, the harmony of the Caribbean and the sweet liquor that distils from our pores.” – Anthony Acevedo Rodríguez, Puerto Rican writer (translated by Celia M. Ayala Lugo)
Congratulations on this publication, Celia! May this mark the beginning of a rewarding poetic career.