Security Questions

The poems from Security Questions (originally published as El pasado es un pueblo solitario) are, on the one hand, a lyric sequence shaped by the poet's coming of age in small-town Cuba during the late stages of Fidel Castro's regime, and on the other a testament of exile and immigration, traces that remain in the wake of forsaking a homeland for the uncertainties of the present. Each poem in this playful and trenchant collection unfolds as a reply to its title, and each title a question in English that echoes actual online prompts for newly arrived immigrants to establish official identity and security. With a mix of humor, irony, and sincerity, Morales transforms these absurd and interrogative bureaucratic authentication questions into the radiant poetry of a new 'American' persona.

© 2027 Fitzcarraldo Editions (Ebook): 9781804273197

Translators: Harry Bauld

Release date

Ebook: 3 March 2027