Rivermouth: An Interpreter's Testimony

Alejandra Oliva's book "Rivermouth" explores the United States immigration crisis through the lens of translation, storytelling, and borders. Oliva, a Mexican American translator, advocates for Latin American migrants seeking asylum and American citizenship. She focuses on the physical spaces that make up different phases of immigration and examines how language and opportunity move through them. The book encourages readers to approach the crisis with critique and compassion and argues for a more open sense of what we owe one another and a willingness to extend radical empathy.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 20 June 2023
Publisher: Astra Publishing House

This book explores the complexities of translation, storytelling, and borders through the lens of the United States immigration crisis. Alejandra Oliva, a Mexican American with a deep connection to the border between Texas and Mexico, is a translator who advocates for Latin American migrants seeking asylum and American citizenship. She intimately understands the challenges of conveying someone's trauma within the strict confines of the immigration system. In Rivermouth, Oliva delves into the physical spaces that shape different phases of immigration, examining how language and opportunity flow through them. From the river that divides the United States and Mexico to the table where Oliva prepares asylum seekers for their Credible Fear Interviews, and finally to the wall that spans America's southern border, she explores the multifaceted aspects of this crisis.

Through her lush prose and insightful analysis, Oliva encourages readers to approach the painful questions posed by the immigration crisis with a combination of critique and compassion. She questions the criteria used to determine who deserves American citizenship and challenges the effectiveness of humanitarian systems that distribute aid with conditionalities. She also explores the moral obligations we have towards our most marginalized communities. Rivermouth is a plea for porosity, advocating for porous borders, a decriminalization of immigration, and a more open sense of what we owe one another. Oliva argues for a better world while providing compelling reasons for fighting towards its realization.

Her writing is characterized by its concrete and meditative nature, as well as its sharp and lyrical style. Oliva combines incisive literary analysis with a deep empathy for her subjects, making her arguments both accessible and thought-provoking. Rivermouth is a powerful testament to the power of storytelling and translation in navigating the complexities of borders and the human experience.

Weight: 464g
Dimension: 159 x 237 x 29 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781662601699