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Posted On: September 22nd 2026, 04:49 pm
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Happy Pub Day to At the River by @ejrod11 that is releasing with @fonografeditions - thank you again for the gifted copy!
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From the pub: Esteban Rodríguez’s At the River asks what it means to live on the border, and how one can come to terms with the symbolic weight of crossing between two worlds.
Combining sharp prose, poetic insight, and a series of incisive black-and-white photographs, At the River journeys to the U.S.-Mexican border in deep south Texas, where our narrator, under his grandmother’s watchful eye, contemplates the geography, people, and cultural characteristics that define the region. Over the course of an afternoon, as we cross from one country to the next, we come face to face with fatigued security guards, desperate children, eager vendors, ominous receptionists, and a whole range of characters that mimic that indifference and uncertainty that defines this corner of the earth. In Rodríguez’s tender and often humorous style, questions arise about identity, economic privilege, race, the nature of language and silence, and the ways in which belonging becomes more than just the name you were born with. At the River asks not only what it means to live on the border, but how one can come to terms with the symbolic weight of crossing between two worlds.
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I was first interested in this one after reading Lotería by Esteban Rodríguez for a previous Sealey Challenge and loving it. But what I encountered here was so different! By which I mean, he has range. I have never read prose poems like these. They are longer, divided between photos, and are comprised of fact-based fiction mixed with real-life experiences. There is love, terror, and explores belonging to a diaspora that is currently under constant scrutiny, and what it means to belong within it, and outside of it. If you are looking for a work that is hybrid and relevant I highly encourage you to pick this one up.
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There is also a very thoughtful forward by @rbttjd included.
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Swipe for a closer look at the cover, the first page, and for a look at the incorporation of photos ➡️➡️
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#pubday #bookrec #newbooktuesday #newreleasebooks #newreleasetuesday
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From the pub: Esteban Rodríguez’s At the River asks what it means to live on the border, and how one can come to terms with the symbolic weight of crossing between two worlds.
Combining sharp prose, poetic insight, and a series of incisive black-and-white photographs, At the River journeys to the U.S.-Mexican border in deep south Texas, where our narrator, under his grandmother’s watchful eye, contemplates the geography, people, and cultural characteristics that define the region. Over the course of an afternoon, as we cross from one country to the next, we come face to face with fatigued security guards, desperate children, eager vendors, ominous receptionists, and a whole range of characters that mimic that indifference and uncertainty that defines this corner of the earth. In Rodríguez’s tender and often humorous style, questions arise about identity, economic privilege, race, the nature of language and silence, and the ways in which belonging becomes more than just the name you were born with. At the River asks not only what it means to live on the border, but how one can come to terms with the symbolic weight of crossing between two worlds.
•
I was first interested in this one after reading Lotería by Esteban Rodríguez for a previous Sealey Challenge and loving it. But what I encountered here was so different! By which I mean, he has range. I have never read prose poems like these. They are longer, divided between photos, and are comprised of fact-based fiction mixed with real-life experiences. There is love, terror, and explores belonging to a diaspora that is currently under constant scrutiny, and what it means to belong within it, and outside of it. If you are looking for a work that is hybrid and relevant I highly encourage you to pick this one up.
•
There is also a very thoughtful forward by @rbttjd included.
•
Swipe for a closer look at the cover, the first page, and for a look at the incorporation of photos ➡️➡️
•
•
•
#pubday #bookrec #newbooktuesday #newreleasebooks #newreleasetuesday
Comments (4)
a month agopoetsforsound
Love the inclusion of photos or images in the collection! Looking forward to reading ❤️
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