ON EARTH AS IT IS BENEATH by Ana Paula Maia

Translated by Padma Viswanathan

Few depictions of hell on earth have punched me quite so hard in the guts as Ana Paula Maia’s Of Cattle and Men. The slaughterhouse at its centre was a perfectly contained apocalypse. When I saw that Maia had something new out I was excited and, I’m glad to say, On Earth As It Is Beneath does not disappoint.

Here the vision is just as bleak, with a setting even more harrowing: a crumbling prison colony in the middle of nowhere. Not a holding pen so much as a clearing house, the colony is its warden’s hunting ground. Plenty of prisoners have come. None have left alive.

Spare and unflinching, On Earth… reminded me of Cormac McCarthy at his best. The cold western vibe, the unthinking brutality. Heck, I was half expecting to find Javier Bardem staring up at me with a bolt pistol. Not to say Maia is churning out homage here. Hers is a singular vision of human debasement, and it rings with wry humour, grizzled characterisation and some delightfully intricate plotting. Comeuppance arrives with a shit-eating grin, and I damn well punched the air and hooted with glee when I reached the end.

On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia (Tr. Padma Viswanathan)
Charco Press, 2025
101 pages