By one of Mexico's greatest contemporary writers, this investigation into state violence and mourning weaves together personal essay and literary theory, giving voice to the political experience of collective pain.Grieving is a hybrid collection of short crónicas, journalism, and personal essays on systemic violence in contemporary Mexico and along the US-Mexico border. Drawing together literary theory and historical analysis, she outlines how neoliberalism, corruption, and drug trafficking&;culminating in the misnamed &;war on drugs&;&;has shaped her country. Working from and against this political context, Cristina Rivera Garza posits that collective grief is an act of resistance against state violence, and that writing is a powerful mode of seeking social justice and embodying resilience.She states: &;As we write, as we work with language&;the humblest and most powerful force available to us&;we activate the potential of words, phrases, sentences. Writing as we grieve, grieving as we write: a practice able to create refuge from the open. Writing with others. Grieving like someone who takes refuge from the open. Grieving, which is always a radically different mode of writing.&;