Description
Atlas
Book Summary
A poem can contain the world. In Atlas, Alba Cid constructs a work that is at once a poetic object and a map of human experience. Through precise and visual writing, the author explores migration, borders, and the echoes of history, transforming each poem into a small resonance chamber where engravings, postcards, letters, and essays coexist. This book, winner of the 2020 Miguel Hernández National Young Poetry Prize, consolidates Cid as one of the most unique voices in contemporary Galician poetry, offering the reader a lyrical experience that invites them to discover the stories dwelling in the folds of the world.
What is it about?
Atlas is a book of poems that unfolds like a map made of language. The work starts from the premise that a poem can be a territory where a fascination for the distant and the intimacy of the near cross paths. Throughout its pages, Alba Cid weaves a network of references ranging from geography to personal memory, through the history of art and correspondence. The poems, conceived as three-dimensional objects, function as "escritoires" that store and reveal fragments of reality: an old postcard, the line of a border, an unsent letter. Migration and displacement are central axes, not only as physical phenomena, but as metaphors for the human condition. Each poem is an exercise in observation and listening, where the reader is invited to trace the echoes that connect the individual with the collective, the local with the universal.
Main themes
- Migration and displacement as a human experience and existential metaphor.
- Borders, both geographic and symbolic, and their impact on identity.
- Memory and history, explored through everyday objects and documents.
- Cartography as a form of knowledge and poetic construction of the world.
- The materiality of the poem, conceived as a handcrafted object that contains and safeguards.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers of contemporary poetry interested in works that explore the relationship between language, space, and memory. It is especially recommended for those looking for visual, conceptual poetry with great symbolic density, as well as for those drawn to reflections on themes such as migration, borders, and identity in a globalized world. It will also be of interest to followers of current Galician poetry and those who appreciate the work of authors who treat the poem as a handcrafted and multidisciplinary object.
What this book offers
- An immersive reading experience that invites you to pause on the details and discover layers of meaning.
- An original perspective on migration and borders, approached from a poetic sensibility rather than a political discourse.
- A sample of the work of one of the most awarded and recognized voices in contemporary Galician poetry.
- A reflection on the poem's capacity to contain and transform the world, functioning as a small, autonomous universe.
Technical data
- Author: CID, ALBA
- Publisher: La Bella Varsovia
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: POETRY BY INDIVIDUAL POETS
- Collection: LA BELLA VARSOVIA
- Binding: Paperback
- Edition date: September 2024
- Number of pages: 80
- Weight: 120 g
Editorial review
Atlas is a work that confirms Alba Cid's talent for constructing poetry of great intellectual and emotional depth. Her proposal, which plays with the idea of the poem as an object and as a map, is both original and stimulating. La Bella Varsovia's paperback edition makes it accessible while maintaining the quality that characterizes the collection. It is a book that rewards slow reading and offers multiple layers of interpretation, making it a valuable acquisition both for those who are already familiar with the author's poetry and for those approaching it for the first time. Its recognition with the Miguel Hernández National Young Poetry Prize vouches for its relevance within the current poetic landscape.