Ernesto Alcalá
Journey to unspoken realms
New poetry collection in a bilingual edition.
Launch: November 2026.
Editorial Ultramarina C&D
Braced by a tree
a star fades slowly
fades.
Injecting into the ancient blood
an immense labyrinth of questions
groping its way within
the indecipherable memory of the forests.
The horror is a house of dolls,
a girl atop a horse atop the rubble
searching for a bell.
Patching a trembling sky,
maybe behind a Van Gogh painting
—maybe behind the windows of “The Yellow House”—.
Maybe in the coffins of the vile.
Valparaíso Ediciones,
March, 2021
Valparaíso Ediciones,
September, 2023
Bio‑bibliographical note
I was born in Barcelona in 1971. I am a Spanish–Australian musician and poet based in Brisbane, Australia, with family roots in Priego de Córdoba. I am a jazz pianist performing alongside saxophonist Nathan Parker. I hold a university qualification in teaching Spanish as a foreign language and have written travel literature for the Citify platform. My poetry collection Insinuaciones del agua (Valparaíso Ediciones, 2023) was shortlisted at the International Poetry Prize Hermanos Argensola. In 2023, I was included in the Charín anthology published by Conrado Blanco Foundation, with a foreword by Antonio Colinas. I am also the author of the poetry collection Geometría de lo imposible (Valparaíso Ediciones, 2021). For a decade, I led the translation agency Traduccom.
Testimonies
"Ernesto Alcalá presents an approach to the poetic word as a voice that creates light in darkness, presence in emptiness, and memory within dreams."
Carlos Aguasaco
Director of the Americas Poetry Festival of New York
"Held still in the meaning of life. Filling the poems with questions. A bottle on the sand after a shipwreck, with no survival manual other than love."
Fernando Valverde
Founder of the Granada International Poetry Festival (FIP)
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Poems
Revelations
I no longer gaze into the pit
seeking out eyes that cut like razor wire,
‘cause I know that in deep water
—with reverence for truth—
there is nothing more profound than love of life.
Equilibrist
You who accompany me
raise my cup of cotton
and drink.
I know your words
feed on spines,
mine hurt too:
gorgons watching us
emotionless
watching us.
I am,
like you,
shade in a desert.
Raise my blade and pierce me.
Unfathomable poem
I speak
from the center of desire
clutching the inaugural current,
knowing
my hand transports
the bitter waves of failure
though it’s not me writing this now.
I live
looking out at my voice.
I rewrite her name.
To her,
may she hear me,
champion of the unattainable dream.
Unhappy.
Girl-doll, belligerent and lost
running barefoot in the breeze
of an apple,
and left naked
by the movement of the wind
dragging its wings through the mud.
The kindness of bodies was never absurd
in the total surrender of two souls.
Upcoming events
Interview on 4EB Radio 98.1 FM
Book launch at Books@Stones
Poetry reading at Poets@Stones
Previous events
Reviews
Velvety, whispering words, and verses that cling to the soul like suction cups drawing out goodness.
BELÉN HERNÁNDEZ GRANDE
Editorial Verbum
MAKING OF IN "ZENDA"
INTERVIEW IN "NATURALEZA, ARTE Y CULTURA"
REVIEW IN "LITERATURA Y ARTE"
REVIEW IN "LETRAS EN VENA"
REVIEW IN "ANIKA ENTRE LIBROS"
REVIEW IN "ALTAVOZ CULTURAL"
