Spotlight on Sarah Cortez and her new book of poems, “Cold Blue Steel”

Sarah Cortez is the author of How to Undress a Cop (Arte Público Press, 2000). She has edited Windows into My World: Latino Youth Write Their Lives (Piñata Books, 2007); Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery (Arte Público Press, 2009); Indian Country Noir (Akashic Books, 2010); and You Don't Have a Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens (Piñata Books, 2011). Last year saw the publication of a memoir, Walking Home: Growing Up Hispanic in Houston (Texas Review Press, 2012). She is also co-editor with Sergio Tronosco of Our Lost Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence (Arte Público Press 2013).

Cortez’s newest book is Cold Blue Steel (Texas Review Press). As Booklist describes it:

“As a police officer, writer, and editor...Cortez provides a unique perspective on the front lines of law enforcement in Houston. In this, her second book of poetry, Cortez employs a frank language in sharp lyrics charged with weary passion...Cortez enlivens her lines with a deft blend of rhythm and police shorthand...[she] brandishes a mean humor….”

And in Cortez’s own words:

“My two greatest loves are poetry and policing. I came to poetry after being published in fiction. I came to policing after fourteen years in a corporate career. Becoming a street cop is the best decision I’ve ever made. You see it all as a patrolman, and then you go home and make sure it doesn’t eat you up. The intuitive decisions cops make and the conciseness of language required are a good substrate for a poet’s emergence.”

For more information about Sarah Cortez and her writing, visit her official website.