Rebecca Pelky, author of Horizon of the Dog Woman (Saint Julian Press, 2020) and Through a Red Place (winner of the 2021 Perugia Press Prize), and assistant professor of humanities and social sciences at Clarkson University, and Jake Young, author of American Oak (Main Street Rag, 2018) and All I Wanted (Redhawk Publications, 2021), are excited to announce the publication of their translation of Naked (Redhawk Publications, 2023)by Matilde Ladrón de Guevara (1910–2009). A Chilean intellectual, writer, and feminist, Ladrón de Guevara is the author of nine collections of poetry, six novels, and eight books of nonfiction. She was a candidate for the National Prize for Literature in 2006, and in 2009, she received the Career Award of the Society of Latin American and European Writers. Desnuda, or Naked, is Ladrón de Guevara’s third book of poems. The collection consists of a series of sonnets, and much or her work relies on surrealist imagery to explore conceptions of femininity, motherhood, and sexuality. In the introduction to the original, Pablo Neruda writes, “These sonnets were rounded like rustic pitchers, formed from precious clay, and Matilde’s white hands made them shine like supreme emeralds.”
Pelky and Young began translating Naked when they were doctoral students at the University of Missouri. In translating these poems from the Spanish, they have sought to remain as honest as possible to the original text, adopting a loose or modern sonnet structure that allowed for a greater flexibility in accessing the essence of the poems. In Naked, Ladrón de Guevara exposes her own vulnerabilities, but in doing so she also reveals her strength and fortitude. Once exposed, the poems’ narrator does not resist nakedness of body and soul, but rather allows herself to wallow in the emotions inherent in baring oneself to the world, or even just to a single person. Confronted with life’s desires, Ladrón de Guevara navigates the turbulent seas of love, sensuality, and passion. The worlds she brings to light for her readers burn brilliantly, and as we follow her on her journey we come to recognize in our own lives the yearning, joy, anguish, and acceptance that permeates the dreamscapes of her poems.
“It is with great pleasure that we introduce to you the poetry of Matilde Ladrón de Guevara, translated into English for the first time,” said Young. “Our ideal reader is anyone who finds themselves curious enough to pick up a book of poems and is willing to allow themselves to be transported.”
To purchase Naked visit https://tinyurl.com/DesnudaNaked
Redhawk Publications is an artistic initiative of the Catawba Valley Community College, publishing written works of interest for the local community, the state of North Carolina, as well as the entire United States. Established in 2017, CVCC is the only N.C. community college with a publishing press offering over 100 titles to date. For additional information on Redhawk Publications, visit our website at https://redhawkpublications.com , or contact Patty Thompson at pthompson994@cvcc.edu.
