New Poetry Book ‘El rostro que habitamos’ Maps the Many Faces of Cancún

Cancún, Quintana Roo — The Benito Juárez Municipal Institute of Culture and the Arts and independent publisher Librélula Editores are presenting “El rostro que habitamos,” a new poetry collection by Miguel Ángel Meza that examines the many faces of Cancún and the experiences that shape the people who call the city home.

Edited by Alejandra Flores and supported by the municipal culture institute, the book is part of a larger literary project by Meza to map Cancún across three genres: short fiction, poetry, and the novel. In “El rostro que habitamos,” the author turns a poetic eye toward what it means to be from Cancún, without avoiding the city’s darker corners while still finding beauty and light in its language.

The collection is divided into three sections. The first follows an immigrant’s arrival in the city: the surprise of a new territory, first love, first job, early nights out, and the ruptures and gray areas that come with adapting to urban life. The second section presents four poems inspired by suicides. The third, titled “Bitácora de oficios,” gathers 15 portraits of jobs and people tied to precarious labor — everyday Cancún lives that rarely appear in tourist narratives.

“Cancún has many faces, and this is one I decided to turn into poetry,” Meza said of the work.

The poet said the book also marks a new stage in his writing, moving away from a more baroque style toward a discursive poetry with greater emotional and conceptual intensity.

“I want to emphasize a poetics of inhabiting and of being from Cancún,” Meza said, describing the collection as part of a trilogy dedicated to mapping the city from different perspectives.

The first installment was “Cada quien su paraíso,” a 2004 short-story collection featuring 13 stories about ordinary characters — antiheroes who arrive in or head toward Cancún and face moral dilemmas. The cycle will continue with the novel “Cancún: sueños convictos,” which Meza says is close to completion. The novel follows two characters confronting a growing Cancún and adds another perspective to the body of literature that has taken the city as its setting and subject.

“It’s a way of mapping our city in three distinct genres: short fiction, the novel, and poetry,” the writer said.

About the author

Miguel Ángel Meza was born in Mexico City but has lived in Cancún since 1986. He directed the Casa del Escritor de Cancún from 1997 to 2004 and founded the literary magazine TROPO, now in its third era. He also coordinates reading workshops.

His published works include “Destellos de mareas” (Praxis, 2004/2025), “El rostro que habitamos” (CCL, 2015), “Itinerario del amor indócil” (Malix, 2025), “Cada quien su paraíso” (Letramar-CCL, 2014), and “Antología personal” (Cuaderno 43, Editorial Gaceta del Pensamiento, 2019). In 2019, he received the Caribe-Isla Mujeres International Poetry Prize.

Of the decision to release this new edition with a local publisher, Meza stressed the importance of strengthening publishing work done in Quintana Roo.

“I’m very glad I made this decision and that Alejandra accepted. It’s part of my idea of publishing with local publishers — I’ve done it with Malix, and now with Librélula, which has very interesting things. I’ve known Ale for a long time and wanted her to present my book,” he said.

Alejandra Flores will host the launch of “El rostro que habitamos” on Aug. 22 as part of a literary gathering around the new edition.

With this collection, Meza turns his gaze toward the Cancún that rarely appears in postcards: the city of those who arrive, work, love, lose, survive, and build a collective identity day by day — a city that, through poetry, can be read as territory, memory, and experience.