And Suddenly I Was Just Dancing

Tilsa Otta (trans. Honora Spicer)

And Suddenly I Was Just Dancing collects poetry by Tilsa Otta (Lima, 1982) in a chapbook of gender-defiant, carnal movement. The rhythm of perreo carries us into an anticolonial space of sensual and sexual liberation which pushes against binaries and towards multiplicity. Curating a collective of spiritual proportions, Otta’s 'New Heaven' is boisterous and honest, zany and earnest, queer and color filled.

'Tilsa Otta has quickly, and with good reason, become recognized as one of the leading voices of new Latin American writing. From novels to poems, her work is always charged with a tender, cosmic, and electrically personal take on life. I would say that Tilsa is a shooting star, for the energy of her ascent in Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Bolivia, and Spain, but there’s nothing fleeting about the light she emits. Tilsa’s star is here to stay, shining at last over the English-speaking world in Honora Spicer’s translation. So, look up, take it in, and don't forget to make a wish: her poems have been known to make even the wildest ones come true.' – Kit Schluter