Only a Little While Here

 

Only a Little While Here / Maria Ospina
trans. from the Spanish by Heather Cleary
NY: Scribner, 2026, c2023.
205 p.

I read Ospina's first collection of stories, Variations on the Body, in 2021 and was very impressed with it. So I was glad to see that this novel was available in time for this year's WIT Month reading. This is a quiet book, which I'd call a collection of linked short stories, more than a novel. But it was also a read that I appreciated and admired. 

It looks at the natural world, and how we are all one -- humans, bugs, birds, animals whether domestic or wild -- it's all one. It has a philosophical bent, a quiet narrative that is still honest and full of the natural violence of nature. Another element she investigates through this look at animal life is migration - what are borders, really, and who belongs where? Some of our characters are also migrants, and this plays into the overall shape of this book.

Each section opens with a selection of poems, excerpts etc from many writers who illustrate her points. The first, and where the title comes from, is a poem by the Aztec King Nezahualcóyotl.

“Truly do we live on earth?

Not forever on earth; only a little while here.

Although it be jade, it will be broken,

Although it be gold, it is crushed,

Although it be quetzal feather, it is torn asunder.

Not forever on earth; only a little while here.”

 

I've never seen this poem before, but it really hit me. It's such a beautiful way to describe the essence of our life here. This sets the tone for the rest of the book, in its sense that life is short and impermanent, and should be honoured and appreciated. 

The four sections of this book follow a migrating tanager, a beetle, a porcupine, and two dogs. And we see some of them as passing characters in the others' stories. The themes are carried through each story, with the characters slowly connecting for the reader, although the characters don't see it. But then that's kind of the point: we don't necessarily see the connections that exist in our daily lives, but we are all intimately connected, linked, a part of nature and everything we do is a part of the world. And as humans we often think that we are the only ones who live here and can do whatever we like without any thought of other lives. This book gently points that out and reminds us that we are also at the mercy of our planet. 

There is both melancholy and hope in many of the stories, and it's so beautiful -- you need to take this one slowly and savour it. If you love skilled writing and thoughtful reflection on life and impermanence, this is one for you. 

Tidal Waters

Tidal Waters / Velia Vidal
trans. from the Spanish by Annie McDermott
Edingurgh: Charco Press, 2024, c2023.
113 p.

This was an odd one, a short read that says it's fictional, but has so many elements of the story that correspond to the author's life that it's hard to know how to categorize it. 

The main character in this book is named Velia, she moves back to the black community on Colombia's Pacific Coast that she grew up in to start a reading program for children (just like the author). The book is epistolary, told in a series of letters to a friend in the literary world, back in the capital. 

I thought this was interesting, with details about a community I didn't know anything about. I enjoyed the discussion of reading and working with families; much of that felt familiar to me, as a librarian. But I didn't fall for this the way so many other readers have. I didn't really connect to "Velia" as the character. There was a lot in the letters about her affairs and sexual life, which I wasn't as interested in reading as her more intellectual ponderings. And I'm not sure where the story was going, as it doesn't have much plot, it's more a thoughtful examination of a life and its development. 

I appreciated the focus on literature as a way to experience and engage with life, and the work that her organization Motete was doing. Not sure if this would be better placed as a creative memoir, though. 

In any case, much of interest here even if I didn't really love it as a whole. 

 

Variations on the Body

Variations on the Body / Maria Ospina
trans. from the Spanish by Heather Cleary
Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, c2021.
136 p.

These six loosely connected short stories, set in Bogota, were wonderful. They all revolve around women's lives, different kinds of women and varied aspects of life, and were all enthralling. Each one had its own charm and I couldn't put this book down. 

The first story, Policarpa, is a fascinating look at a former guerilla fighter who is rehabilitating into society with a job at a grocery store. Marcela is trying to fit back in but has a PTSD response to an elderly woman shopping in her line, and we hear about the elderly captive she guarded before escaping from her life in the mountains. She's also telling her story to an editor who keeps changing details to make the story more commercially appealing; Marcela will have to escape that as well. It was a fantastic opening to this collection, rooted in the country's history and with a very complex and strong main character.

The next story, Occasion, is also strong, and has a connection to the first; the lead character here is the long estranged sister of Marcela. In this one, Zenaida works as a maid in a house where her young charge Isabela tries to create some control of her life by eating dirt each afternoon. The subtle ways that Ospina shows the lack of agency in Zenaida's life as well as Isabela's are memorable and effective.

I also loved the title story, which comes last in the collection, and also inspired the cover design. A widowed older lady collects scissors of all kinds - her husband was a collector of all things so now she's decided to create a collection of her own. She lives alone but also ends up taking care of her granddaughter weekly. As she admits to her beautician, she actually doesn't like her granddaughter much, to her great disappointment. The big old house, the routine, it's all getting to her. So one day she simply walks out of the house, with a large pair of scissors in her purse, to start a new life.

The other three stories are just as intriguing, full of detail and complexity. There are strange workplaces, references to the lure of America, and workarounds that women make to smooth their existences.

There are also resonances in each story, to the other stories and to earlier literature - one story's connections to a 16th century poem are noted in the translator's preface. And the writing is so precise, fluid, and evocative. An atmosphere is created, of an unsettled country and the ways in which women manage their lives. There's not a false note here; you could turn to the beginning and read them all over again as soon as you finished and find more to admire. This was a great discovery, one that impressed and delighted me. Definitely recommended.