Catalina

The past year was pivotal for the poet Catalina Sojos. At the end of 2025, “Óleo,” her latest book of poetry, was published—a heart-wrenching text in which the author unleashes her voice and sheds all pretense to fully express herself, bursting forth with new insights and embracing, without compromise, the knowledge of a woman whose perspective and language have been transformed by time. The poem becomes a river: beautifully confessional, profound, and at the same time harshly unreal.

That same year, the University of Azuay Press published “Cábalas y espejos” (Kabbalahs and Mirrors) in the “La caja mágica” (The Magic Box) collection, a highly significant publishing project that compiles and organizes his poetry and children's and young adult literature into eight volumes carefully selected and cataloged by the poet and editor Franklín Ordóñez from Loja. The titles in this collection are: “Nubia,” “Cábala” (Kabbalah), “Espejos” (Mirrors), “Ciudad de puentes rotos” (City of Broken Bridges), “Bajo la piel” (Under the Skin), “Los alebrijes del Cajas” (The Alebrijes of Cajas), “El brujillo y otros vuelos” (The Little Witch and Other Flights), and “Yurak.”

All the beautifully illustrated books by Diego Larriva-Calle engage in dialogue with the text, amplifying its symbolic and emotional dimensions. He also incorporates photomontages of the author with drawings, resulting in a graphic style that is utterly innovative compared to his illustrations for children's books, such as the mythologies in the volume "Espejos" (Mirrors), the exquisite "Los alebrijes del Cajas" (The Alebrijes of Cajas) (previously unpublished), or the now-classic "Brujillo" (Little Witch), a landmark in Ecuadorian children's literature. Cats and rivers permeate his poetry, as seen in the extraordinary illustrations for "Bajo la piel" (Under the Skin), where a red rope runs through the entire book like a lifeline, amidst the themes of love and heartbreak.

The editorial work of the University of Atacama (UDA) is fundamental here: with subtlety, rigor, and a profound understanding of our poet's universe, they have produced an exceptional edition that transforms "La caja mágica" into a truly organic work. This collection has already established itself as a contemporary classic of Ecuadorian literature, an open door—both aesthetic and ethical—to one of the most singular and enduring voices in our current poetry.