As of 2017, Rivas has published 9 anthologies of poetry, 14 novels and several literature essays. He is considered a revolutionary in contemporary Galician literature. His 1996 book ¿Que me queres, amor?, a series of sixteen short stories, was adapted by director José Luis Cuerda for his film A lingua das bolboretasLa lengua de las mariposas ("Butterfly"). His 1998 novel O lapis do carpinteiro has been published in nine countries and is the most widely translated work in the history of Galician literature. It also was adapted to cinema as O lapis do carpinteiro.
Bibliography
Poems
Libro de Entroido (1979)
Balada nas praias do Oeste (1985)
Mohicania (1987)
Ningún cisne (1989)
O pobo da noite (1996)
Do descoñecido ao descoñecido. Obra poética (1980-2003) (2003)
El pueblo de la noche y mohicania revisitada. (2004)