Margaret Randall reads from short fiction and poetry, then is joined by Garrett Caples in conversation
City Lights, Casa Urraca Press, and Wings Press celebrate the publication of
Lupe’s Dream and other stories
(published by Wings Press)
and
Vertigo of Risk: poems
(published by Casa Urraca Press)
About Lupe’s Dream
During the strange and unsettling second year of COVID-19, Margaret Randall suddenly found herself writing short stories. The author of over 150 books of poetry, essays, biography, nonfiction and translations, Lupe’s Dream and Other Stories is her first collection of fiction. These stories are as unsettling as the times. In one way or another, each references life in a near-future where scarcities have become dramatic, space can be strangely unfamiliar, and time moves in unexpected directions. After several intense months of writing, the stories stopped as mysteriously as they’d begun.
“Margaret Randall’s extraordinary new collection explores a world in which story is life and time is mutable. The space-time continuum gives way to a story-time continuum as clocks reverse their flow and memory lifts a grieving woman in its arms. Centuries and borders collapse, we travel through mirrors, dreamlands, and sliding doors, finding ourselves in photographs that point to a future as much as a past. In “Scheherazade’s New World,” Randall writes, “It is what you commit to memory and store for future reference that matters.” My future reference has been forever enriched by this portal into the possibilities of then, now, and when. “—Lisa Birman, author of How to Walk Away
“Margaret Randall, known for her poetry, translations and memoir, extends her world-absorbing art with this new collection, Lupe’s Dream and Other Stories. We find here unvarnished reality combined with sensitivity to the interpersonal dynamics of experience intersecting with social and political forces that affect us all—and Randall pulls this off with the acute clarity that has distinguished her remarkable body of work to date. With her compassion and unflinching eye, Randall renders the human experience in fluid, magical, real-as-stone stories, moving through first person and third person experiences with the effortlessness of a spirit traveling through lives. As always, Randall’s work presents us with a keen witness, giving us new eyes to see the world in a nutshell of beauty and truth.”—Douglas Cole, author of the poetry collections The Blue Island and The Gold Tooth in the Crooked Smile of God, as well as the novel The White Field (American Fiction Award)
About Vertigo of Risk:
Margaret Randall’s latest poetry collection is perhaps her finest work yet. Vertigo of Risk is, as Denise Chávez calls it, Randall’s Master Opus—a “Testimonio to a life lived in the blessed search of Truth.” The series of poems called “Dearest,” which read as letters to friends and inspirations, leads into a sharpened assembly of pieces that both celebrates and champions life and art, all with Randall’s rich candor and ear for language throughout.
Margaret Randall (New York, 1936) is a poet, essayist, oral historian, translator, photographer and social activist. She lived in Latin America for 23 years (in Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua). From 1962 to 1969 she and Mexican poet Sergio Mondragón co-edited El Corno Emplumado / The Plumed Horn, a bilingual literary quarterly that published some of the best new literature and art of the sixties. She is the author of more than 150 books. She lives in Albuquerque with her partner (now wife) of more than 35 years, the visual artist Barbara Byers, and travels extensively to read, lecture and teach. To learn more about the work of Margaret Randall visit: www.margaretrandall.org
Garrett Caples is a poet, journalist, and poetry editor at City Lights Books. He curates the City Lights Spotlight Poetry Series. He is the author of numerous books of poetry which include Complications , Power Ballads, Retrievals, Lovers of Today, The Garrett Caples Reader, amongst others. Together with Andrew Joron and Nancy Peters he edited The Collected Poems of Philip Lamantia.
This event is made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation. To learn more visit: https://citylights.com/foundation/