The debut English language poetry collection by noted Mexican author Isabel Zapata, A Whale is a Country explores humanity's relationship to the natural world through a multitude of poignant angles.
Isabel Zapata was born in Mexico City in 1984. She studied political science at Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM) and philosophy at the New School for Social Research, in New York. She is the author of the titles Las noches son así (Broken English); Alberca vacía/Empty Pool translated by Robin Myers--bilingual edition (Argonáutica / Lumen); Una ballena es un país (Almadía); In vitro (Almadía) [In Vitro: On Longing and Transformation translated by Robin Myers, (Coffee House Press, 2023)]; and Tres animales que caben en el agua (Almadía). Her work has been included in Mexican journals such as la Revista de la Universidad de México, Periódico de poesía, and Letras Libres, among others; and international publications such as World Literature Today and Ancrages (Canada). In 2015 she, along with four friends, founded Ediciones Antílope under the motto, "We make books that we would like to read," and their catalog includes narrative, la crónica, poetry, and essay. She received a 2016-17 grant from FONCA's Jovenes Creadores, a prestigious government program supporting Mexican artists and writers.
