Elena salamanca

poems

introduced by Lucia de sola

As an editor and lover of history and literature, it is a privilege to introduce Elena Salamanca.

Elena is an iconic figure contemporary Salvadoran culture. She is an artist whose vision has a depth that comes from rigorous study in different disciplines and literary and historical genres; she has created for herself a true renaissance profile.

Elena has two masters degrees: a Masters in Comparative History from La Universidad de Huelva, España (2012) and a Masters in history from el Colegio de México, México (2016). She is a currently doctoral candidate in History in el Colegio de México. Her thesis explores the relationships between exile, citizenship, and Central American unity between 1917 and 1954.

Between 2012 and 2017, she coordinated an annual festival alongside Nadie: Fiesta Ecléctica de las Artes, FEA. She has participated in installations in the MARTE Art Museum.

She has written an endless stream of introductions and analyses in different forums, and most importantly, she has published extraordinary writing. Just as Elena refuses to limit herself to conventional, exclusionary, and limiting definitions and perceptions, she invites us to question the concept of literary genres in her work. It is impossible to reduce her reach to a single style, or even a single discipline. It is impossible to limit her works to one single audience.

Currently Elena is not only a feminist leader in our country, but also one of the leading voices of her generation. With time, she will not only be an icon in El Salvador, but in our region.

She has published four books: La familia o el olvido (first edition 2017, second edition 2018), Peces en la boca (1st edition 2011, 2nd edition 2013), Landsmoder (2012) and Último viernes (2008).

The poems published in La Piscucha appeared previously in Revista Temporales. In one of the poems, Poem about Conflicting Bloodlines, she explores the tragedy of being a woman in our country across generations and contexts and she does it in crystalline language sharpened with scathing irony, passion, and wisdom. In Bottle in the Bag, her words and images vibrate with sadness, nostalgia, and loneliness.