The Fire's Journey

Poetry. Latin American Studies. Translated from the Spanish by Keith Ekiss, Sonia P. Ticas, and Mauricio Espinoza. Eunice Odio published her epic poem THE FIRE'S JOURNEY ( El tránsito de fuego ) in 1957, and it is now available in English translation for the first time. A much-neglected masterpiece of 20th-century Latin American poetry, the poem imagines the world as the word of God. Using a mixture of surrealism, narrative, and dialogue, the story follows the journey of Ion, the poet-god who enters the universe to battle the Void, the force of chaos that threatens to cast the world into darkness. Drawing on traditions from Genesis to Paradise Lost , Odio's THE FIRE'S JOURNEY is a poem about the sacred power of language and the fate of the poet in the world. Tavern Books will publish the entirety of THE FIRE'S JOURNEY in four volumes.