A Sun Behind Us / Un Sol Caído Avanza

MARÍA AUXILIADORA ÁLVAREZ'S winning entry of the Paz Prize for Poetry is in many ways a loving memoriam to her father, Oswaldo Álvarez Rojas, and a celebration of the long embrace that still warms María, her seven siblings, and their mother. Her poems explore sunlight as a metaphor for her father, holding her up from behind, illuminating her path forward, and also shining a light on memory, igniting nostalgia, and overcoming the grief of loss.

Rainer Maria Rilke wrote, "Believe me, everything depends on this: to have had, once in your life, a sacred spring that fills the heart with so much light that it is enough to transfigure all coming days." In A Sun Behind Us, the poet's father is the sacred spring. "My father," writes Álvarez, "is in all my writing, and his writing is in all my family, keeping us standing tall even after his sudden departure, following a brief illness. His positive influence is still the sun behind our back, projected beyond our horizon. The potent lighthouse in our life as nomads. Illuminated by the same ray of light, the eight children together form a compact stained-glass window, now dividing the fifty-two weeks of the year among ourselves, each taking our turn in caring for our mother beside the Florida sea, where she still smiles each morning. Even those who live far away travel without hesitation to fulfill a promise whispered along with our father's last breath."

Álvarez's book was selected for the Paz Prize for Poetry by the Cuban poet Germán Guerra.

A Sun Behind Us/Un sol caído avanza representa el iluminado poemario ganador del Premio Paz de Poesía otorgado por la Serie Nacional de Poesía. El libro premiado en el año 2024 ha sido seleccionado por Germán Guerra y será publicado en edición bilingüe (español-inglés).

Esta obra de MARÍA AUXILIADORA ÁLVAREZ, ganadora del Premio Paz de Poesía, es en muchos sentidos un recuento de la memoria y los mundos perdidos a consecuencia de la inmigración, como la familia, los amigos y la lengua. Es también un amoroso recuerdo de su padre, Oswaldo Álvarez Rojas, y una celebración del largo abrazo que se mantiene tibio en la memoria de María Auxiliadora, sus siete hermanos y su madre. Los poemas exploran la luz del sol como metáfora del padre sosteniéndolos detrás, iluminando su camino hacia adelante para arrojar luz sobre las sombras, encender la nostalgia y ayudar a superar el dolor de la pérdida.

Según Rainer Maria Rilke, "todo depende de haber tenido, una vez en la vida, una primavera sagrada que llene el corazón de tanta luz que baste para transfigurar todos los días venideros". En A Sun Behind Us/Un sol caído avanza, el padre de la poeta representa la primavera sagrada. "Mi padre", escribe Álvarez, "está presente en toda mi escritura, y su escritura está presente en toda mi familia, manteniéndonos erguidos incluso después de su repentina partida tras una breve enfermedad. Su benéfica influencia sigue siendo el sol a nuestras espaldas, proyectándose sobre el horizonte. El faro potente en nuestra vida de nómadas. Iluminados por el mismo rayo de luz, los ocho hijos formamos un compacto vitral, dividiendo las cincuenta y dos semanas del año entre nosotros, para tomar cada uno su turno en el cuidado de nuestra madre junto al mar de Florida, donde ella todavía sonríe cada mañana. Incluso los que viven lejos viajan puntualmente para cumplir la promesa susurrada junto al último aliento de nuestro padre".

Author: María Auxiliadora Álvarez
Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd.
Published: 12/02/2025
Pages: 160
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9781636142579


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 11/01/2025 pg. 73

About the Author
Álvarez, María Auxiliadora: - MARÍA AUXILIADORA ÁLVAREZ was born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1956 and has been a professor emerita at Miami University, Ohio, since 2023. Growing up in different countries due to her father's diplomatic career, she settled in the United States in 1996, where she received a master's degree and doctorate in Spanish literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research areas include mystical/contemporary poetry; pre-Columbian/colonial cultures; and women, cultural, and interdisciplinary studies. She has published several critical articles in literary journals, two essay collections, and fourteen volumes of poetry.