In Rogelio Guedeas bold new poetry collection, O me voy o te vas / One of us must go (with English translations by Roger Hickin), love is a powerful magnet that attracts and repels in equal measure. In language both lyrical and spare, Guedea examines what it means to share ones life with another person and questions whether and how love can survive realitys steady tapdrip repetitions. This is the mesmerising tale of two people who stumble over one another time and time again, yet whose every word and action adds another stitch to a close, personal tapestry of memories and familiarity. Unashamedly domestic, this collection captures every kind of tenderness felt in an intimately involved life. O me voy o te vas / One of us must go is a true love story, a chronicle of romantic survivalism. To write against your love, is to write about your love: is to love you another way, is to love you in every way. XXVIII
Mexicanborn poet and novelist Rogelio Guedea is the awardwinning author of more than 40 books. His poetry collection Kora was awarded the prestigious Spanish Premio Adonáis de Poesía in 2008, and in 2013 his novel, El crimen de Los Tepames (Mondadori), was one of the top five bestselling novels in Mexico. His most recent poetry collections, both with English translations by Roger Hickin, are Si no te hubieras ido / If only you hadnt gone (2014) and Punctuation (2018). He was the coordinator of the University of Otago Spanish Programme and Associate Professor of Spanish from 20082016. Rogelio is currently based in Wellington and is the director of The New Zealand Hispanic Press.
Roger Hickin has published translations of a number of Latin American poets, among them the Nicaraguans Ernesto Cardenal, Blanca Castellón, Carlos Martínez Rivas and Joaquín Pasos, as well as two previous collections by Rogelio Guedea, Si no te hubieras ido / If only you hadnt gone and Punctuation.
