Empty Pool, by Mexican writer Isabel Zapata, is a work that defies traditional literary categorizations, proposing what could be described as its own genre: the "essay poem." Published by Literal Publishing in collaboration with Hablemos, escritoras and translated into English by Robin Myers, this book stands out for its ability to intertwine the lyricism of poetry with the introspection and reasoning of the essay.
Through a collection of brief and fragmentary pieces, Zapata explores themes as diverse as motherhood, octopuses, the COVID-19 pandemic, extinction, dogs, memory, ...