Reflections Through the Convex Mirror of Time

Book Launch and Poetry Reading

  E.A. “Tony” Mares’ post-humous book of poetry

Reflections through the Convex Mirror of Time

Poems in Remembrance of the Spanish Civil War

  Reflexiones tras el espejo convexo del tiempo

  Poemas en recuerdo de la Guerra Civil Española

Sunday March 12 at 5:00 p.m.

Teatro Paraguas, 3205 Calle Marie, Santa Fe

In this poignant bilingual collection, preeminent New Mexican poet E. A. “Tony” Mares posthumously shares his passionate journey into the broken heart and glimmering shadows of the Spanish Civil War, whose shock waves still resonate with the political upheavals of our own times. Mares engages in dialogue with heroes and demons, anarchists and cardinals, and beggars and poets. He takes us through the convex mirror of history to the blood-stained streets of Madrid, Guernica, and Barcelona. He interrogates the assassins of Federico García Lorca for their crimes against poetry and humanity. Throughout the collection the narrator is participant and commentator, and his language is both lyrical and direct. In addition to Mares’s parallel Spanish and English poems, the book includes a prologue by Enrique Lamadrid, an introduction by Fernando Martín Pescador, and an epilogue by Susana Rivera. Lovingly shepherded and completed by friends and family, this book will appeal to Mares enthusiasts and readers interested in poetry and history, who will be glad to have this unexpected gift from a master’s voice. 

E. A. “Tony” Mares (1938–2015) was a poet, playwright, actor, essayist, fiction writer, social activist, and historian born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is author of The Unicorn Poem and Flowers and Songs of Sorrow, With the Eyes of a Raptor, and Astonishing Light: Conversations I Never Had with Patrociño Barela (UNM Press) 

The readers include Enrique Lamadrid (former chair of UNM Spanish and Portuguese Dept.), Susana Rivera (UNM Professor Emeritus), and noted New Mexico poets Levi Romero, Gary Brower, and Larry Goodell.

Teatro Paraguas produced Tony Mares’ play Lola’s Last Dance in 2017 and also in 2022, which included a dramatic reading of his epic poem Astonishing Light: Conversations I Never Had with Patrociño Barela .

This project is made possible in part by New Mexico Arts (Dept. of Cultural Affairs), and the Santa Fe Community Foundation.