Translation

Originally, my desire to translate stemmed from the need to translate my own work from Spanish to English, and vice versa. I write poems in both English and Spanish, and my own work in both languages has been published in literary magazines.

In 2017, I was accepted to the Bread Loaf Translators Conference, where I participated in Christopher Merrill’s poetry translation workshop. That experience was pivotal for me: not only did I learn valuable skills that I could apply to the translation of my own poetry, but I left with a desire to translate other poets’ work as well. I have always felt that being bilingual is a gift, and I am excited to be able to use my gift to benefit other poets, and world literature as a whole.

After Bread Loaf, I decided that my goal as a translator is to translate the work of Latin American poets (preferably female) from countries affected by adverse economic policies, such as Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia. Because of my personal ties to the region, I knew that if there were any poets writing about the realities of life in those countries, I wanted to read and translate them. My mission as a translator is to shine a light on underrepresented voices whose work needs to be heard on a much larger stage, and translating their poetry into English can make that possible.

Six months into my search, I came across Oriette D’Angelo’s (Caracas, 1990) poetry— and was immediately captivated. In 2022, I finished translating her award-winning debut collection, “Cardiopatías (Monte Avila, 2016)” and in March 2024 my translation was published as “Homeland of Swarms” in a bilingual edition by coimpress. In early 2025, “Homeland of Swarms” was shortlisted for the 2025 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation, and named the winner of the Florida Book Awards Bronze Medal in Poetry.

Since 2024, I have been working on translating other works by Oriette D’Angelo, and completed the translation of her chapbook, “Inquietud,” titled “Restlessness” in English. This translation is currently unpublished, but a selection of poems from the manuscript appeared in the Spanish Language Poets in the U.S.A Portfolio of Literature in Translation folio in Tupelo Quarterly, edited by Laura Cesarco Eglin. Another poem from the chapbook, “Landscape with Two Tombs and an Assyrian Dog” appeared in Small Orange Journal in Summer 2023. I am currently at work translating Oriette’s second full length collection, “A Través del Ruído” while revising my own poetry manuscript.

Below you’ll find a list of several of my translations of Oriette D’Angelo’s poems that have been published in literary magazines.

Published Translations:

Small Orange Journal
Three poems by Oriette D’Angelo translated by Lupita Eyde-Tucker:
“Scalpel,” “Dear Leticia,” and “Landscape with Two Tombs and an Assyrian Dog.”

Armstrong Literary
Two poems by Oriette D’Angelo translated by Lupita Eyde-Tucker: “Common Crime,” and “I Remember When Dying Was a Circumstance.”

“Five Poems from “Cardiopatías” by Oriette D’Angelo translated by Lupita Eyde-Tucker“
Los Angeles Review, October 22, 2022

“Mourning and Condolence” and “Petitions“
Circumference Magazine, January 2021

Knee on Dirt, by Oriette D’Angelo
The Arkansas International – Nominated for a Pushcart Prize
Issue 08 – Spring 2020

“A Question of Lust” Translation of the poem “Cuestión de Lujuria” by Oriette D’Angelo

“I underline a title like I underline a country”
Translation of the poem “Subrayo un título como subrayo un país” by Oriette D’Angelo
Nashville Review #25, Spring 2018

Five poems by Oriette D’Angelo translated from the Spanish by Lupita Eyde-Tucker
March 19th and Spring 2019 issue

Also: Translation Tuesday on the Asymptote Blog: Forbidden to Pass By and Stay by Oriette D’Angelo.

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