Characterized by its rejection of experiential and narrative linearity, Mónica de la Torre's Four exposes and deconstructs the scaffolding of time. De la Torre posits "all writing is prediction," and the reader is privy to the evolution of the speaker's discourse as her predictions are both fulfilled and disappointed, necessitating amendment and revision. Four reads like a daydream transcribed, full of meditations on the weather, photographs, strangers on the subway, and the power of language to document, anticipate, and break down the barriers of time. When de la Torre writes that "we strive to tolerate being strictly in the moment," readers cannot help but nod in agreement.
Four is composed of four individually titled booklets: Lines to Undo Linearity, Shift, Mariposa Negra, and Photos While U Wait. The booklets, printed on Risograph in blue, green, orange, and black, are separately bound and bundled together in a wrap-around paper band, which displays the title. Four is printed in a limited edition run of 500 copies. The first fifty copies are signed by the author.
Poetry Foundation review of Four
Mónica de la Torre is the author of four previous poetry collections—two in Spanish and two in English, and several chapbooks, including The Happy End (The Song Cave). A native of Mexico City, she has translated Latin American poets and co–edited several multilingual anthologies, most notably Reversible Monuments: Contemporary Mexican Poetry (Copper Canyon). Her work has been published in magazines such as Aufgabe, Convolution, frieze, and The New Yorker, as well as anthologies and exhibit catalogs including Xul Solar and Jorge Luis Borges: The Art of Friendship, Corrected Slogans (Triple Canopy), and The Animated Reader (The New Museum). She was the recipient of a Lannan Foundation residency in 2014. She teaches in the creative writing MFA program at Columbia University and is BOMB Magazine's senior editor.
Poetry Foundation interview with Mónica de la Torre