mirror-city is a collection of new and selected poems by Nicolas Behr - “Brasília’s poet” - who was imprisoned in 1978 by the Brazilian military dictatorship in an attempt to silence him and his writing. Upon release, Behr reported that his future plans included buying a megaphone so that he could speak louder.

Behr’s work summons the spectral “braxília,” the city that Brasília could have been - incorporating an X where the city’s major arteries cross into the name itself - where the “wings” and “body” meet.

Translated by Jon Woodward and authorized by the author, mirror-city includes work ranging from the late 1970s to the present, as well as six new pieces.

Portuguese originals and English translations appear on facing pages.