{"product_id":"the-queen-of-swords-9781949641875","title":"The Queen of Swords","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn what was at first meant to be a short essay about the influential Mexican writer Elena Garro (1916-1988), Jazmina Barrera's deep curiosity and exploration give us a singular portrait of a complex life.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSifting through the writer's archives at Princeton, Barrera is repeatedly thwarted in her attempt to fully know her subject. Traditional means of research--the correspondence, photos, and books--serve only to complicate and cloud the woman and her work.\u003ci\u003eWho was Elena Garro, really?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eShe was a writer, a founder of \"magical realism,\" a dancer. A devotee to the tarot and the\u003ci\u003eI Ching\u003c\/i\u003e. A socialite and activist on behalf of indigenous Mexicans. She was a mother and a lover who repeatedly shook off (and cheated on) her manipulative husband, Nobel-laureate Octavio Paz. And above all, she wrote with simmering anger and glittering imagination.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Queen of Swords \u003c\/i\u003eis a portrait of a woman that also serves as an alternative history of Mexico City; a cry-out for justice; and an homage to the unknowable. It transcends mere biography, supplanting something tidy and authoritative for a sprawling experiment in understanding.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBarrera, Jazmina:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cb\u003eJazmina Barrera\u003c\/b\u003e was born in Mexico City in 1988. She is the author of six books in Spanish: \u003ci\u003eCuerpo extraño\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCuaderno de faros\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLinea nigra\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eLos nombres de los animals \u003c\/i\u003e(a Children's Book)\u003ci\u003e, Punto de cruz \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e La reina de espadas.\u003c\/i\u003e She has also co-written the books \u003ci\u003eNuestro plan de fiesta \u003c\/i\u003e(with Camila Fabbri) and \u003ci\u003eRituales para la amistad\u003c\/i\u003e (with Daniela Rea and Elvira Liceaga). Her books have been published in nine countries and translated to English, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese and French. This is her fourth book translated by Christina MacSweeney and published by Two Lines, including \u003ci\u003eLinea Nigra\u003c\/i\u003e, which\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ewas\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003ea finalist for the National Book Critics Circle's Gregg Barrios Book in Translation Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Autobiography Prize\u003ci\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e She is editor and co-founder of Ediciones Antílope. She lives in Mexico City.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMacsweeney, Christina:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - In addition to \u003cb\u003eChristina MacSweeney\u003c\/b\u003e's work with Jazmina Barrera, she has translated works by such authors as Elvira Navarro, Valeria Luiselli, Daniel Saldaña París, Julián Herbert, and Karla Suárez. She has also contributed to several anthologies of Latin American literature. In recent years, her translation of Jazmina Barrera's \u003ci\u003eCross-Stitch\u003c\/i\u003e was shortlisted for the Queen Sofía Institute Translation Prize, Elvira Navarro's \u003ci\u003eRabbit Island \u003c\/i\u003ewas longlisted for a National Book Award, and Clyo Mendoza's \u003ci\u003eFury\u003c\/i\u003e is currently shortlisted for the Valle Inclán Translation Prize. In 2024, she was granted a Sundial Literary Translation Award for her translation of Verónica Gerber Bicecci's \u003ci\u003eThe Company\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Two Lines Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51705510560018,"sku":"9781949641875","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_96bae6de-8866-4ac8-b2ff-9316645b1f6a.jpg?v=1762348399","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-queen-of-swords-9781949641875","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}