Translated by Erín Moure, THE FACE OF THE QUARTZES (Un libre favor) is Chus Pato's twelfth book of poetry. In this poetry collection Pato creates a manual for living that is one with birds, with animals, with peaks and trains and lighthouses, and with women who undertake journeys toward life (the improper) and spring (renewal). Her poems acknowledge an unrequitable gift: that of poetry, the language of poetry, the possibility of poetry, its impropriety and its freedom.

The book includes an introduction (in part explaining why a book called Un libre favor ended up as The Face of the Quartzes!), a materials index, and a translation of an interview with Chus Pato by Peruvian poet Maurizio Medo.