The final conquest

At age sixteen, Elvira Orphée began her literary journey with a fierce originality and masterful prose that would later influence writers such as Sara Gallardo and Tomás Eloy Martínez. Her daughter, Flaminia Ocampo, has now brought forth a police story written by Elvira, which was blessed by the author of Aire tan dulce and Basura y luna, and will soon be published in a Mexican magazine. The work blends elements of Silvina Ocampo and Juan José Hernández, creating a constellation of language artists who build a "refuge against any catastrophe." Years later, Flaminia, now a writer and screenwriter, has launched this literature of smuggled languages through the publishing house Sur y Después, alongside cultural journalists Silvina Friera and Adriana Lorusso. She emphasizes the need for brief books, free of filler, where each word carries weight. Under her arm, she holds two new titles: Amada Lesbia de Orphée, an unpublished work, and Melancolía de los leones, by Cuban author Pedro Juan Gutiérrez. Silvina Friera notes that catalogs are akin to works in progress, evolving as one navigates through the editorial process. She believes that reading critically transforms individuals into editors without them realizing it. When reviewing the first novel under the imprint, there was consensus around Amada Lesbia. This book does more than just republish an existing work, it simultaneously rescues an author worth continuing to read while introducing an entirely new text. The manuscript had previously been submitted to the legendary La Sonrisa Vertical contest, where it remained archived until Flaminia rediscovered it. Ocampo explains that the version from the 1980s was longer and historical, but feedback suggested that part did not align well. While the earlier version made it to the finals of the Tusquets competition, it was ultimately deemed too lengthy. With Elvira's guidance during her lifetime, the narrative was refined, organized, and polished. The story revolves around love and heartbreak, drawing inspiration from classical history, particularly the passion between poet Catullus and Clodia, a relationship that has persisted since 44 BCE as a model of feverish love, echoed in works by Shakespeare and Idea Vilariño. The exercise of professional and critical journalism is a cornerstone of democracy, often unsettling those who believe they possess the truth. Reading along the same path of sweet resentment found in Aire tan dulce, Friera points out that these novels are distinct yet connected by their poetic language. Elvira trafficked poetry within narrative, giving her a style different from her contemporaries, including the group Sur, and even from the subsequent generation of the 1970s boom. The conditions for reading Elvira’s work were not structured, nor did she actively participate in feminism. However, her portrayal of Clodia in Amada Lesbia, along with the thoughts and reflections attributed to her, reflect a woman far ahead of her time. Elvira offers a character to consider women's rights from ancient Rome to today. Those coming from the south and afterwards. Pedro Juan Gutiérrez, a poet, storyteller, and journalist known for his "Dirty Trilogy of Havana," gained popularity with these stories. However, Melancolía de los leones predates this trilogy and circulated limitedly in Cuba and Spain. These tales offer a less muddied and more hyper-realistic-fantastical side of Gutiérrez, resonating with his poems. Whether this influenced the decision to publish them remains unclear.