Rafael-José Díaz Explores a Decade of Literary Evolution in 'Ojos que ven abismos'
Rafael-José Díaz explores his decade-long creative evolution and thematic obsessions in his new collection, Ojos que ven abismos, which blends diverse literary genres to examine the nuances of everyday life.
The release of Ojos que ven abismos (Editorial Mercurio, 2026) is a significant moment in Rafael-José Díaz’s career. The book collects nearly a hundred short pieces written between 2010 and 2019, offering a comprehensive look at the Tenerife-born author’s work. As Díaz noted in a recent interview with Diario de Avisos, this volume serves as a form of personal archaeology, showcasing the evolution of a writer known for blending different literary genres.
The collection features both previously published and new material, all centered on the idea that form is just as important as content. Díaz, who works across narrative, poetry, essays, and translation, focuses on literature that exists on the fringes. This "marginal" approach appears in three ways: geographically, by contrasting island life with the mainland; formally, by weaving poetic and aphoristic structures into prose; and symbolically, by exploring the blurred lines between sleep and wakefulness, or humanity and the animal world.
For Díaz, writing is an immediate impulse rather than a process of constant revision. He views his work as a translator as a separate discipline—a way to refine his language skills without letting it influence his own creative style.
The book is notable for its microscopic focus on the everyday. By examining automatic habits and urban landscapes—particularly the geography of Santa Cruz de Tenerife—Díaz encourages readers to slow down and change how they perceive the world. Ultimately, this collection does more than just gather a decade of work; it maps the thematic obsessions that define Díaz’s voice, allowing the author to look back and appreciate the development of his own creative journey.