Cruz Prize: a fractal exploration of a woman's grief

as she moves through disjointed segments of time.

Divided Island is the story of a woman with a neurological

disorder. The day she goes in for the encephalogram that

will lead to her diagnosis, she finds herself splitting in two.

One of the women she becomes decides to travel to an island

to take her own life; the other remains behind. Scenes and

images real and imagined gradually coalesce into the story of

a life told from a singular location: a way of perceiving and

describing the world, guided by cerebral dysrhythmia.

Written in scraps and fragmented chapters, Divided Island is

a nonlinear narrative best read as a poetic experience, in

which the protagonist's memories and dreams recompose the

world and, in doing so, trouble the very notion of self.

This slim volume makes it abundantly clear why Daniela

Tarazona belongs in the company of other Sor Juana

winners like Lina Meruane, Cristina Rivera Garza, and Maria Gainza.