About the book, from Penguin Random House:

“In Gabriel Dozal’s debut collection, the U.S.-Mexico border is redefined as a place of invention; crossing it becomes a matter of simulation. The poems accompany Primitivo, who attempts to cross the border, an imaginary boundary that becomes more real and challenging as his journey progresses; and his sister, Primitiva, who lives an alternate, static life as an exploited migrant worker in la fabrica. 

The tech world and bureaucracy collide, with humanity falling by the wayside, as Primitiva endures drudgery in la fabrica. “In the past our ID cards were decorative. Now we switch off with someone else, another worker who will wipe the serenade from our eyes.” With no way to escape the simulation, Primitivo and Primitiva must participate in it, scheming to gain its favor. To win, you must be the best performer in the factory, the best imitation of a citizen, the best machine.

Featuring a bilingual format for English and Spanish readers, The Border Simulator explores physical and metaphysical borders, as well as the digital divide of our modern era. With inventive imagery, spirited wordplay, and thrilling movement, these energetic poems oscillate between the harrowing and the joyful, interrogating, innovating, and ultimately redefining binaries and divisions.”

About the Author, Gabriel Dozal, and the translator, Natasha Tiniacos:

“Gabriel Dozal is from El Paso, Texas and is a poetry editor for DIAGRAM. He received his MFA in poetry from the University of Arizona. His work appears in Poetry Magazine, Guernica, Bomb Magazine, The Iowa Review, The Brooklyn Rail, The Literary Review, Hunger Mountain, The Volta, Contra Viento, and more. His debut collection of poetry The Border Simulator/El Simulador de Fronteras is available from One World/Random House.”

“Natasha Tiniacos is a poet, literary translator, and scholar living in New York after having been granted asylum by the U.S. government. M.F.A. in Creative Writing- Poetry (NYU), M.A. in Spanish and Comparative Literature (USC). Currently, she is a doctoral candidate in Latin American, Iberian, and Latino Cultures at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York with research interests in disability and queer disability studies, as well as sound studies in literature and art of the twentieth and twenty-first-century.”

Why I selected The Border Simulator: Poems for the April 2024 Giveaway:

• I am excited to feature a local poet who has written a heartbreakingly beautiful collection that details the ironic and hypocritical metaphors and symbolism of refugees looking to cross the MX/US border to pursue a new life. This is, of course, a very relevant topic for our community.
• I also love that this book is structured as a narrative poem – with each poem adding to the story of the US-Mexico borderlands as both a real place and a living simulation, and how two siblings navigate it.
• This book is bilingual! Each poem has been translated into Spanish – so it’s accessible to a larger audience. On each page, you can read the poem in English and then on the opposite page view the Spanish translation. I love the thought that was put into breaking down the language barrier (border?) in this way.
• I knew this book would be unique (and one I would want to give away and hide around Tucson!) when I read this review from the Poetry Foundation. Here’s an excerpt to whet your appetite:

Dozal’s shapeshifting conceit frees him from documentary realism and journalistic euphemism, those all-too-familiar modes of writing about the US–Mexico border. It’s an unexpected short-cut to technological topics rarely broached in poetry: TikTok, cryptocurrency, data marketplaces. It lets him toy with genre mash-ups, world-building, and characters like Primitivo, a border-crosser; Primitiva, a migrant worker; and Customs, a glossily corporate chorus. Dozal’s a riffer, a one-upping accumulator, aiming brazenly for “A continual reply-all effect.” He can also hopscotch between end-stopped aphorisms, complete in themselves, volatile in combination.

CHRISTOPHER SPAIDE, The Poetry Foundation

And please don’t forget! Along with this month’s book, we’ll hide copies of “Seeing Sun Spots,” the visual poetry of Tucson zine! The zine is GORGEOUS (designed and printed by Amanda Meeks of Outspokin’ & Bookish), and the creation of the Zine was co-sponsored by us (the Tome Gnome) and the UA Poetry Center. It’s full of beautiful poems and visual art submitted by some incredibly talented community members. This is a limited print run and thus is one you won’t want to miss (but if you miss finding a book, there will be copies of the Zine at the upcoming Zine Fest on April 20th, and the UA Poetry Center will have a stack of them available – all for free!

Finally, we are grateful to our friends at Downtown Tucson Partnerships and HSL Properties for helping to sponsor the books we’ll be hiding downtown this month!