then that most of these features are to be found in the work of British Latinx poets. In spite of the incredibly wide range of cultures, countries and background of the poets in Nuevo Sol, including Afro Latinx, indigenous and the Amazon, they all share many of these features in their work, offering an exciting new voice in British poetry. It is a voice that is linked to both Latin America and to the Latinx voice of the more established scene in the United States, but it is one that is refreshingly different.
It has to be said, however, that British Latinx poetry is still in its early stages. Unlike our peers in the United States, our Latinx voice has yet to fully define itself. In the United States it is telling that arguments over whether the Latin American community and its poets wish to be called Latinx or Hispanic still rage, with further arguments from those who wish to follow more specific area definitions such as Chicano (of Mexican heritage). In Britain we have opted for British Latinx, choosing a non-gendered term to reflect our thinking on gender equality. The ‘X’ perhaps also evokes some of the spirit of resistance seen in Malcolm X, this time denoting the political and passionate nature of the poetry. This is poetry that challenges the status quo. Existing somewhere between Spanish, English, Portuguese and Spanglish (now being studied as a language in its own right at Queen Mary University), the British Latinx poetry uses the tension of bilingual existence as a creative source. It is poetry that denies the long held view that British poetry must be only in English and speaks to the increasingly multilingual nature of British life (in London several hundred languages are spoken). It is poetry that brings with it a very different attitude to the role of art in society, a more active political role. It is poetry that invites the reader to read with their bodies and their hearts, rather than just their minds.
The British Latinx voice can be considered as the youngest child of the trilogy – British Latinx, United States Latinx and Latin America. There is still a huge amount of work to do but we are too young to have encountered any major divisions that have beset our counterparts in the US. This means we can reach out across the globe, inviting connections to create a wider network that is global and powerful. We are not only writing ourselves into existence, but offering new spaces for the rest of Latin American writers across the world. Just as Latin American music is taking over the industry, the literature is also taking a front row seat and we get to play a part in this. This issue of Magma was born out of the desire to show the heterogeneous nature of Latin American poetry in its many forms and the way it can influence and shape the literature of other cultures and continents.
Dr Nathalie Teitler HonFRSL was born in Argentina and came with her family to the UK to escape political turmoil. She went on to do a PhD in Latin American poetry, fuelled by a passion for Latin culture. Nathalie has worked promoting diversity, innovation and quality in British arts for 30 years. She is the director of The Complete Works Poetry and the co-editor of Nuevo Sol, the first major anthology of British Latinx writers (flipped eye publishing). She is also the director of Dancing Words, making dance poetry films, and is writing a novel set in the tango world of Buenos Aires in the 1900s.
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