Jacob Steinberg Knihy

Poet, writer, and translator Cecilia Pavón emerged in the late 1990s as a central figure in the Argentine literary scene, part of the "Generation of the 90s," which responded to the devastating effects of neoliberal policies and the 2001 economic crisis. Their publications, often fragile and unconventional, left a lasting cultural impact. As a cofounder of Buenos Aires's independent art space and publishing press Belleza y Felicidad, Pavón showcased emerging Argentine artists and pioneered the use of "unpoetic" and intimate content in her work, often drawing from text messages and chatrooms. Her tone is both playful and brutally sincere. Fellow poet Marina Yuszczuk described Pavón's writing as filled with "minor illuminations and conjectures," characterized by a flowing syntax of commas and disjunctives. In 2015, her first volume of collected poems, A Hotel With My Name, was published in English, resonating with contemporary writers in the US, Australasia, and Europe. Pavón's protagonists are depicted as "absolute women," navigating various spaces and experiences. Little Joy compiles the best of her short stories written between 1999 and 2020, originally published in three Spanish volumes, and translated by her poetic protégé Jacob Steinberg.