Recital of the Dark Verses

In August 1592, a bailiff and his two assistants arrive at the monastery of Úbeda, with the secret task of transferring the body of Saint John of the Cross, the great Carmelite poet and mystic who had died the previous year, to his final abode. When they exhume him, they find a body uncorrupted and as fresh as when he died.

Recital of the Dark Verses follows the three hapless thieves as they sneak the corpse of Saint John of the Cross from Úbeda to Segovia, trying not to lose too many pieces of the body to his frenzied disciples along the way. It is the (true) story of a heist, a road novel, a coming-of-age tale, and a raunchy slapstick comedy told in careening, charismatic prose. It is also a witty and wise commentary on the verse of one of Spain's most important poets woven from the lines for which he is best known----a revival of words written more than four centuries ago, and a centering and celebration of their intrinsic queerness.

Luis Felipe Fabre (Mexico City) is a poet and critic. He has published a volume of essays, Leyendo agujeros, the poetry collections Cabaret Provenza, La sodomía en la Nueva España, Poemas de terror y de misterio, and the book Escribir con caca. He is the editor of two anthologies of contemporary Mexican Divino Tesoro and La Edad de Oro, and Arte & Basura, an anthology of Mario Santiago Papasquiaro's poetry. He has been curator of the Poesía en Voz Alta Festival and Todos los originales serán destruídos, an exhibition of contemporary art made by poets. His chapbook Sor Juana and Other Monsters was also translated by John Pluecker and published in a bilingual edition as part of the UDP Señal Series. Novo en el Mictlán (Holy Shit) was on stage by the direction of Benjamin Lazar and Thomas Gonzalez in 2016.

Heather Cleary is a translator and writer based in New York and Mexico City. Her essays and literary criticism have appeared in Two Lines, Lit Hub, and Words Without Borders, among other publications. Her translations include Betina González' American Delirium, María Ospina's Variations on the Body, Mario Bellatin's Mrs. Murakami's Garden (Deep Vellum, 2020), and more.