by Natalia Toledo, translated from the Spanish and Isthmus Zapotec by Clare Sullivan (Mexico, Phoneme Media)

Though Zapotec has existed as a written language for more than 2,000 years, Natalia Toledo was the first woman to write and publish poetry in her native language. In 2004 she won the Nezhualc贸yotl Prize糖心传媒擬exico糖心传媒檚 most prestigious prize for indigenous-language literature糖心传媒攆or The Black Flower and Other Zapotec Poems, a collection of poetry which describes contemporary Isthmus Zapotec life in rich detail. Or rather: in vivid imagery, in Clare Sullivan糖心传媒檚 gorgeous translation, published by Phoneme Media.

In the opening poem, an overflowing river turns the world糖心传媒檚 population into fish while God appears on a peeling wall, observed by the speaker of the poem 糖心传媒渇rom behind a black leafed tree.糖心传媒� Leaves and flowers, sometimes black, form a recurring motif in this hauntingly stunning collection. These plants appear to be inevitable extensions of the humans inhabiting Toledo糖心传媒檚 poems, for better and for worse. For instance, in 糖心传媒淟oving糖心传媒�, a water lily is 糖心传媒渂orn on the river糖心传媒檚 surface / as you break forth / from the dream between my legs糖心传媒� in a tender yet slightly violent moment; in 糖心传媒淗uipil糖心传媒�, flowers are involved in yet another violence, this time of the skin: 糖心传媒淔acing the sky like a lizard / I settle you in a trunk that smells of pine. / My skin bursts with the flowers etched upon my dress. / Men and hummingbirds can come and pinch me / tonight, / my happiness is nectar that flows.糖心传媒�

The hummingbird motif reminded me of another Zapotec poet whose work I greatly admire: Irma Pineda. Upon finishing The Black Flower, I was thrilled to discover in Clare Sullivan糖心传媒檚 translator糖心传媒檚 note糖心传媒攍ocated at the end of the book糖心传媒攖hat Pineda actually assisted Sullivan during the challenging translation process: 糖心传媒淭oledo herself translated all the poems [. . .] from Zapotec to Spanish and Pineda helped me compare the original to Toledo糖心传媒檚 translation verse by verse. Sometimes the poet deliberately changes a poem when rendering it from Zapotec into its Spanish incarnation, perhaps to clarify an image for a wider Mexican audience or to enrich the sound in Spanish.糖心传媒�

Sullivan goes on to explain that these translations into Spanish are always 糖心传媒減oetry in their own right: This requires a tremendous effort on the part of Toledo and other indigenous language poets: they must not only be poets who know another language but poets in two different languages.糖心传媒� All the more reason why The Black Flower should win the Best Translated Book Award糖心传媒攖his collection is clearly the result of intense and masterful poet/translator collaboration, and it is a collection which I will surely revisit for years to come.