The Lost Nostalgias

Lyrical insights from an immigrant son navigating love, death, acceptance, and belonging along the United States and Mexico border.

With a narrative voice that translates the unforgettable into something lyrical and magical, The Lost Nostalgias demonstrates Esteban Rodríguez’s exploration of familial moments that move between the tragic, the trivial, and the triumphant. A mother’s decaying teeth lead to questions of self-care and beauty; a quinceañera becomes a meditation on masculinity; a visit to the bank illuminates a father’s existential fears; and a rave suddenly becomes a reflection on migration and survival. Because nothing is off the table under Rodríguez’s tender lens, everything and everyone becomes deserving of admiration, dignity, and love.

Esteban Rodríguez is the author of eight poetry collections, most recently Lotería, and the essay collection Before the Earth Devours Us. He is the interviews editor at the EcoTheo Review, senior book reviews editor at Tupelo Quarterly, and associate poetry editor at AG