Beyond the Sea

Beyond the Sea brings together two book-length sequences first published in Mexico in the early years of the century, both taking their origins from Greece, a matter of central importance for the poet for many years. Fittingly, for subject-matter thoroughly drenched in the Greek past, the poems are odes and dithyrambs; the gods are there, imagery that has echoed across the centuries is here transposed into a limpid modern Mexican poetry, composed with the lightest of touches. Here the Mayans of Bonampak meet the Minoans of Knossos, united across the centuries and thousands of miles by their preservation in wall-paintings, and by their observer. Here the gods meet our gaze, and come forth, raised from the ashes of history. They are no dead; they are not forgotten; they have merely been sleeping only to be awoken by the poet. Elsa Cross is one of the most important living Mexican poets, and this fine translation does her work spectacular justice.

"Elsa Cross is one of the most personal voices in recent Latin-American poetry. Her work, already extensive, brings together some of the most perfect poems among those written by recent generations of Mexican authors. I say "voice" and not poetic writing; although its is written, above all it is spoken. Two opposed aspects are united in Elsa Cross: complexity of thought, and diaphanous diction." -Octavio Paz

Elsa Cross was born in Mexico City in 1946. A complete edition of her poetry appeared in 2013 from the Fondo de Cultura Económica in Mexico City. Her book El diván de Antar (1990) was awarded the Premio Nacional de Poesía Aguascalientes (1989), and Moira (1993) won the Premio Internacional de Poesía Jaime Sabines (1992), both in Mexico. Jaguar (2002), is inspired by different symbols and places of ancient Mexico. Her more recent books include a trilogy: Los sueños - Elegías, Ultramar - Odas, and El vino de las cosas, Ditirambos., the last two of which have been issued in translation by Shearsman Books. Also appearing in 2007 was a new collection, Bomarzo, likewise later issued in translation by Shearsman. New collection continue to appear in Mexico.Books in other countries include a wide selection of her poetry, Miroir au soleil (Brussels, 1996) translated into French by Fernand Verhesen with a foreword by Octavio Paz, and other titles published in Canada and Spain. Her poems have been translated into twelve languages and published in magazines and more than sixty anthologies in different countries. She has also published essays. She has an MA and PhD in Philosophy from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where she holds a professorship and teaches Philosophy of Religion and Comparative Mythology.In 2008 Elsa Cross was awarded the most prestigious poetry prize in Mexico, the Xavier Villurrutia Prize, an award that she shared with Pura López-Colomé.