The Equestrian Turtle and Other Poems / La Tortuga Ecuestre y Otros Poemas

Author: César Moro

Publisher: Cardboard House Press (2025)

Written in Mexico in 1938-1939 and published in Lima in 1957, this cycle of poems is an oblique chronicle of the poet’s relationship with the Mexican army officer Antonio Acosta. Exiled from Peru for political reasons, Moro spent the next ten years in Mexico, where he composed the thirteen poems included in the original publication of The Equestrian Turtle. This volume also includes four poems written for the collection but ultimately omitted, five closely related poems from this period, and seven “Letters to Antonio,” written in poetic prose. The letters, emerging from daily life, provide a fascinating complement to the poetry. Translators Leslie Bary and Esteban Quispe worked from the scholarly edition Obra poética completa (Alción Editora, 2015), one of at least eight editions published in Spanish. While the book has been translated into French, German, Italian, and Portuguese, this is the first bilingual edition in Spanish and English.