Reconstruction of the Father and Other Writings

Using a series of male aliases/heteronyms, Iris Kiya delves into the memory of soldiers at war, children at play and lovers in crisis. Evoking everything that comes into sight, from images of carrousels and photographs by Robert Capa, to the smell of toasted oats and black pepper, Iris Kiya traces the inherent violence of images and their effects on subjects, armed with a rich poetic imagery and a broad palette of affections. She assures us: “My trips are not imaginary, I carry them on the tip of my tongue”.

This dual-language edition, the first of Iris Kiya’s works translated into English, compiles three poetry collections: Reconstruction of the Father (2020), Massacre in Harrington Street (2017) and Infrared Margins (2019). This anthology promises to be a most generous introduction for English speaking audiences to the work of one of the most celebrated Bolivian female poets of the last decade.