Cristina Peri Rossi

Cristina Peri Rossi is one of the most acclaimed voices in Hispanic letters. Born in 1941 in Montivideo, to a family of Italian immigrants, she began publishing at a very young age, winning most of the significant literary prizes in Uruguay before going into exile to Spain in 1972 where she became a citizen in 1975. Peri Rossi is the only female writer linked to the phenomenon known as the Latin American Boom alongside male colleagues such as Garcia Marquez and Vargas Llosa. She was also good friends with Julio Cortazar who dedicated his Six Poems for Criss to her. Cortazar also helped her flee to Paris in 1974 when the Spanish government collaborated with the Uruguayan regime in denying her a Spanish passport. Peri Rossi has continued writing prolifically. She has published over 40 novels, essays translations, short stories and poetry collections. Often focusing on political, social and gender issues, her work has been translated into over 15 languages . She’s been honored with, among others, the Rafael Alberti International Poetry Prize, the Don Quijote Poetry prize, and the Jose Donoso Ibero-American Literature award in 2019.

Peri Rossi currently lives in Barcelona, where, despite various health issues, she remains dedicated to thinking and writing.

To Live Twice

Memory is an overlife.
While I lean to kiss you
to caress your bosoms
I think of the overlife that shall supervene me
in your memory

I will live beyond my years
in the seam of your neck so white
as the lunar glow
one evening, in Calella,
in the month of August,
year: two thousand and six,

I will live beyond my years
in your memory of a nocturnal woman
who, from the cot, gazes
at the window through which a city like a Richard Estes painting
flickers its lights on and off
between the billboards of Banks and of Safe-houses
cars and offices 

I will live beyond my years
in your memory  
of the woman who, in loving me loves herself within my love 

and you will remember the feather crest 
with which you covered your nakedness 

and the bottle of water fallen in the midst of kisses
and the glow of your muted television
which blankly illuminated our bodies
darkening them at times
like under-eyelid-halfmoons in the middle of the skin
Memory is an overlife
As I lean to kiss you
I know I live doubly
the time of this lukewarm autumn night
on which I caressed you by my hands
with my fingers with thoughts and with my voice
and the double-life and your memory
in which we loved
beyond time itself
in the middle 
in the middle of an illuminated 
and silent city
which does not sleep

because we held the vigils
we kept the vigils of enjoyment
the vigils of love.

    — Translation by Arturo Desimone, 2020 Málaga

Vivir Dos Veces

La memoria es una sobrevida.
Mientras me inclino para besarte
para acariciar tus senos
pienso en la sobrevida que me sobrevendrá
en tu memoria

viviré más allá de mis años
en el escorzo de tu cuello tan blanco
como la luz lunar
una noche, en Calella,
mes de agosto,
año dos mil seis,

Viviré más allá de mis años
en tu memoria de mujer nocturna
que mira desde el lecho
la ventana por donde una ciudad como un cuadro
de Richard Estes enciende y apaga sus luces  

en medio de los carteles de Bancos y de Cajas
de autos y oficinas

Viviré más allá de mis años
en tu memoria
de mujer que al amarme se ama en mi amor

y recordarás el edredón de plumas 
con el que cubrías tu desnudez

y la botella de agua caída en medio de los besos
y la luz del televisor mudo
que iluminaba blancamente nuestros cuerpos
oscureciéndolos a veces
como ojeras en medio de la piel

La memoria es una sobrevida
Mientras me inclino para besarte
sé que vivo dos veces
la vez de esta noche tibia de otoño
en la que te acaricio con las manos
con los dedos con el pensamiento y con la voz
y la sobrevida de tu memoria
donde nos amamos
más allá del tiempo
en medio de la ciudad iluminada
y silenciosa
que no duerme
porque estamos en vigilia
vigilia del goce
vigilia de amor.