Como luz de r o / Like River Light brings together two bilingual poetry collections by one of the most accomplished trans-border poets in America, Juan Armando Rojas Joo. Light / Luz (2013), and Vertebral River / R o vertebral (2009, 2002), masterfully translated by Jennifer Rathbun, this volume also includes a commentary by Julio Ortega.

En la poes a de Juan Armando Rojas Joo el desierto es cicatriz y tambi n estuario. Dos voces lo nombran como espacio de frontera, santuario de la memoria y del lenguaje: la de un cronista de Indias y la de quien pertenece a ese territorio m tico y movedizo. En este canto al desierto, los poemas, traducidos por Jennifer Rathbun, navegan sobre dunas.

Mar a ngeles P rez L pez (Poeta y profesora en la Universidad de Salamanca)

In the poetry of Juan Armando Rojas Joo, the desert is a scar and also an estuary. Two voices name it as a border space, a sanctuary of memory and language: that of a chronicler of the Indies and that of who belongs to that mythical and mobile territory. In this song to the desert, the poems, translated by Jennifer Rathbun, sail on dunes.

Mar a ngeles P rez L pez (Poet and Professor at University of Salamanca, Spain)

La traducci n de Jennifer Rathbun de la poes a de Rojas "construye un puente luminoso a trav s de la frontera entre EE. UU. Y M xico, donde no solo se desvanecen las esperanzas, sino que se tuerce la lengua ... La poes a impresionista de Juan Armando Rojas Joo es una lecci n de artesan a".

Ilan Stavans (Ensayista y professor en Amherst College)

Jennifer Rathbun's translation of Rojas' poetry "builds a luminous bridge across the U.S.-Mexican border, where not only hopes are dashed but the tongue is twisted... Juan Armando Rojas Joo's impressionistic poetry is a lesson in craftsmanship."

Ilan Stavans (Essayist and Professor at Amherst College)