Rubí Cordoví, René. Oblongo in New York. Introduction by Yoandy Cabrera. kýrne and LPRC Department at Rockford University, 2022.

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“These resonant poems provide the reader with a reimagined version of New York. Oblongo, according to the author, “is an alter ego, a name which suggests the way of saying of an African ethnic group whose members were slaves in Cuba. He is also part of the Spanish legacy expressed through the duality of innocence and mischief of the Cuban farmer. And like the geometric figure, he extends in space and time.

Oblongo provides a perspective by which the visionary émigré writer can describe the city, which to so many encapsulates Americanism. The familiar sounds and places of New York merge and meld into a transformed city. These poems, which touch on magical realism and contain a number of unforgettable lines, will stay in the mind and heart.”

Janet McCann
Professor Emerita at Texas A&M University
Writer of the poetry collection Life List

“Both playful and grave, Rubí’s lyrical subject describes and sees surrounding violence as well, going from dangerous situations to “how to eat a hotdog.” And it is right there where one of the most relevant elements of Rubí’s poetry dwells: from phonetics to descriptions, from diverting sounds to a sense of origin, from light to darkness, from game to thoughts, this poetic voice is looking for spaces where playing with words and ideas is always pleasing and dreadful. Oblongo elongates himself, longus, with his millenary glance. Those spaces are the yin and yang of existence, what is simultaneously won and lost.”

Yoandy Cabrera, editor