Projects › Suelo

Suelo is the working title of Alice’s new literary collaboration. It means soil or earth in Spanish, and uses fictional and non-fictional forms to examine the history and effects of the mining of Peruvian guano and Chilean saltpetre by British merchants during the nineteenth century.

Alice’s new short story, ‘The Siren’, exploring this subject-matter, can be read here. The story was written during her residency at Exeter Custom House with Quay Words and was published in the 2023 anthology.

On July 15th 2023 Alice and Chilean artivists Hilanderas gave a poetic performance at the British Library as part of her Eccles Centre Summer Scholars talk. The poem La Voz de la Tierra (Voice of the Earth) which Hilanderas wrote and performed with Alice, responding to her work, is here:

Hilanderas write:

Somos personas en constante metamorfosis, la capacidad humana nos permite sobrevivir a cualquier adversidad, sin embargo, ¿cuándo empezamos realmente a vivir?
Creemos que las voces trascienden fronteras, por ello nuestro objetivo es ampliar las experiencias y herramientas personales a través de la exploración de la voz.
Existen profundos vínculos entre la subordinación de la mujer y la explotación de la tierra. Una de las formas en que trabajamos para resignificar y transformar este vínculo es a través de la experimentación con la propia voz.

Todas las historias tienen voz y merecen ser escuchadas.
La tierra y las mujeres tienen raíces,
La tierra y las mujeres tienen úteros,
La tierra y las mujeres tienen voz.

We are people in constant metamorphosis, human capacity allows us to survive any adversity, however, when do we really begin to live? We believe that voices transcend borders, therefore our aim is to expand personal experiences and tools through the exploration of the voice. There are deep links between women’s subordination and the exploitation of land. One of the ways we work to re-signify and transform this bond is through experimentation with one’s own voice.

Every story has a voice and is worthy of being heard.
Earth and women have roots,
Earth and women are wombic,
Earth and women give voice.