The LGBT Fiction Shelf

Trash
Sylvia Aguilar Zeleny, author
J. D. Plucker, translator
Deep Vellum Publishing
https://store.deepvellum.org
9781646052202, $15.95, PB, 168pp

https://www.amazon.com/Trash-Sylvia-Aguilar-Z%C3%A9leny/dp/164605220X

Synopsis: With the publication of "Trash", author Sylvia Aguilar Zeleny int= erweaves the voices of three women with lived connections to the municipal = garbage dump of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Aguilar Zeleny reveals the complexities of survival and joy, love and viole= nce a teenager abandoned by her guardian at the dump, a scientist doing res= earch on the residents of the dump, and a transwoman living nearby who is t=
he matriarch of a group of sex workers.

Each one of these three characters must navigate through family, abandonmen=
t, power, jealousy, greed, and multiple taboos around sexuality and gender = violence. Their separate life stories are linked by geography and by ideas =
of waste and abandonment.

As Sylvia Aguilar Zeleny explores these territories in her novel, she asks = crucial questions: who is seen as disposable and why? How do women find the=
ir own means of survival and joy in the midst of a perilous sociopolitical = context? What does it mean to live a life in a time of austerity and extrem=
e violence?

Critique: A critical intervention in Mexican literature and ably translated=
into English for an American readership by J. D. Pluecker, "Trash" showcas=
es author Sylvia Aguilar Zeleny genuine flair for an eloquently impressive = and narrative driven storytelling style that fully engages her readers from=
first page to last. Also readily available in a digital book format (Kindl=
e, $11.99), this is one of those original novels that will linger in the mi=
nd and memory long after the book itself is finished and set back upon the = shelf. "Trash" is a fine addition to personal reading lists, as well as com= munity, and academic library LGBTQ literary fiction collections.

Editorial Note #1: Sylvia Aguilar Zeleny received her MFA in Creative Writi=
ng from The University of Texas at El Paso. She is the author of four short= -story books and a young adult novel series. Her novel Todo Eso Es Yo won t=
he National Book Award in Tamaulipas, Mexico in 2015, and was republished a=
s The Everything I Have Lost (Cinco Puntos Press, 2020) as a rewriting in E= nglish. Her work has been included in anthologies in Mexico, the United Sta= tes, Australia, Peru, and South Korea. She has also given conferences and p= articipated in various panels addressing the work of women writers of Latin=
America, as well as panels on teaching bilingual creative writing and/or t= eaching fiction to first or second generation students.

Editorial Note: J. D. Pluecker (https://jdpluecker.com/about) has translate=
d numerous books from the Spanish, including Gore Capitalism (Semiotext(e),=
2018), Ant=C2=A1gona Gonzalez (Les Figues Press, 2016), and Writing with C= aca by Luis Felipe Fabre (Green Lantern Press, 2021). Their book of poetry = and image, Ford Over, was released in 2016 from Noemi Press. JD is a recipi= ent of the Andy Warhol Foundation Arts Writing Grant and has exhibited work=
at Blaffer Art Museum, the Hammer Museum, Project Row Houses, and more.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

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(dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
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James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

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