
Poetry. Fiction. Art. Latino/Latina Studies. Translated from the Spanish by Stuart Krimko. As the Argentine economy went into freefall at the end of the last millennium, two young women—Fernanda Laguna and Cecilia Pavón—met and became friends. Fernanda, a painter and poet who also publishes fiction under the nom de plume Dalia Rosetti, and Cecilia, a poet and translator, soon forged the radically creative partnership now known as Belleza y Felicidad. As Belleza emerged into a movement and inspired a community, Fernanda and Cecilia broadcast its ethos—"a complete program of resistance," as César Aira once described it—through a prodigious output of poetry and fiction. Now a generous selection of this work is available in English for the first time. With an introduction by translator Stuart Krimko, this authoritative volume transmits the urgency and passionate feeling at the heart of one of the most exciting artistic and literary movements to emerge from South America in recent decades. "BELLEZA Y FELICIDAD, both the place and the idea, live on in the irresistible pleasures of Cecilia's and Fernanda's poems and stories. Upon revisiting them now I find that they are in fact high-precision lenses for seeing the daily utopias of reality."—César Aira "Fernanda Laguna and Cecilia Pavón are legendary writers, domesticating the world in order to make it the subject of their 'domestic' poetry. They are voracious and understand everything. Stuart Krimko's translations capture the totalizing effect of their writings beautifully."—Chris Kraus "This book is a paradise of love. Eminent, charismatic, & frolicsome, it's also the magic transcription of a friendship, i.e. a romance (several!), the kind I spent my misspent youth envying in Montaigne & La Boetie. Ecstatics of childlike candor & polymorphous grace, Fernanda Laguna & Cecilia Pavón are absolute women, guileless dreamers, saints in sneakers, on sidewalks, in jail, in Zara, on buses, in nightclubs, in bed, about to turn 29, & 37, & 7. I can't wait for everyone in america to read this book & never be the same again."—Ariana Reines
Authors


Fernanda Laguna (Buenos Aires, 1972) es artista plástica, escritora y curadora. Desde 1998 dirige la editorial de poesía y narrativa Belleza y felicidad. Fue miembro fundador del proyecto Secundario Liliana Maresca, secundario orientado en artes visuales en la Escuela 349 del barrio de Fiorito. Participó de la organización de Periférica, feria de espacios de arte independientes en el C.C. Borges. Formó parte del grupo fundador de Eloísa Cartonera junto a Javier Barilaro y Washington CucurtoEn 2010 abre Tu Rito junto a un grupo de artistas, espacio dedicado a poesía y performance. Ha participado en múltiples exposiciones individuales y colectivas. Su obra fue adquirida por el MALBA (CABA), MACRO (Rosario), Banco Supervielle (CABA) y la Fundación Cisneros (NY). Ha realizado obras teatrales como El como es que se dice junto a Alina Perkins y Yotiteretú en vivo y en danza junto a Mariela Scafati. Publicó libros de poesía en byf y Me encantaría que gustes de mí (2006), Dame pelota (2009) y Control o no control (2012) todas por editorial Mansalva.