Hot off the Presses

Hot off the Presses

By Xánath Caraza

Para hoy en La Bloga, Poemarios y narrativa recientemente publicados, hot off the presses, Descent, Daring to Write, Chicano Blood Transfusion, Calling the Water by Its Name, Waterpath and Black Ink.

Descent (Mouthfeel Press, 2016) by Carolina Monsivais

For this collection, Carolina Monsivais drew from her experience as an educator/counselor/advocate in the field of domestic violence and sexual assault. Originally, she believed that she would write a series of poems about survivors and working with survivors. Though, in doing so, she discovered that she was writing about the advocate’s relationship to the survivors, to herself and to the work itself. Monsivais felt that it was the best way for her to convey what she witnessed and to express the ways in which the work changed her.

DARING TO WRITE

Contemporary Narratives by Dominican Women

Edited by Erika M. Martínez

Foreword by Julia Alvarez

University of Georgia Press

Publicity Contact: Amanda E. Sharp

Phone: 706-542-4145

Email: asharp@uga.edu

www.ugapress.org

With this new literary collection Erika M. Martínez has brought together twenty-five engaging narratives written by Dominican women and women of Dominican descent living in the United States. The first volume of its kind, Daring to Write offers readers a wide array of works on a range of topics including love and family, identity and belonging, and immigration and the meaning of home. The resonant voices in this compilation reveal experiences that have been largely invisible until now.

The volume opens with a foreword by Julia Alvarez and includes short stories, novel excerpts, memoirs, and personal essays by established writers such as Angie Cruz and Nelly Rosario alongside works by emerging writers. Narratives originally written in Spanish appear in English for the first time, translated by Achy Obejas. An invaluable contribution to Latino/a studies, these writings will introduce readers to a new collection of rich literature.

Chicano Blood Transfusion (Flower and Song Books, 2016) by Edward Vidaurre

 Sometimes the grind of life in modern America sucks Latin@s dry: between the daily micro-aggressions and institutional racism, la gente find themselves drained of that essential chispa. At times like those, we need a Chicano Blood Transfusion like the one Edward Vidaurre injects straight into our souls in his most recent collection. So just lean back and let yourself be guided through the graffitied recesses of our collective barrio by one of the most important poets of deep South Texas, whose unique voice blends street, Beat, form and striking breadth.

Llamar al agua por su nombre / Calling Water by Its Name (Mouthfeel Press, 2016) by Laura Cesarco Eglin and translated by Scott Spanbauer

 Into orange blossoms, dancing castanets, clouding sandscapes, Laura Cesarco Eglin weaves dreamy memories of a rioplatense childhood and a maturing poet’s understanding of language’s ability to make, unmake, and remake the world.  While “all that remains of the sand / is the word handful,” Cesarco Eglin keeps language fresh — woodsing, outjugated, underbay—and her imaginative leaps teach us “how to live our death” and how to live with insistent longing: “Rewinding moments / in the shadow of later because / when I say enough it’s already gone.”  Through Scott Spanbauer’s deft and daring translations, English speakers now have a chance to experience one of Uruguay’s loveliest emerging voices.—Ron Salutsky, author of Romeo Bones

Aguacamino / Waterpath (Mouthfeel Press, 2015) by Rossy Evelin Lima and translated by Gerald Padilla

Rossy Evelin Lima writes over a rock with delicate water traces. Her poetry evaporates but only to turn into a cloud and sing like the rain. In this manner, the poet gives us to drink that strange liquid time that is the poem and invites us to accompany her in her journey; a journey of stones rounded by the strength of her spirit.—Javier Tinajero Rodríguez, author of “Párpados y Pájaros”.

Tinta negra / Black Ink (Pandora Lobo Estepario Press, 2016) by Xánath Caraza and translated by Sandra Kingery

Tinta negra / Black Ink by Xánath Caraza, translated by Sandra Kingery, is a bilingual book of poetry where lyricism is mixed with social commentary.  A vital liquid, black ink courses through the body and is a testament of what the poet observes in the world: separating borders, metallic walls, deep America and open sky, dashing mares at dawn, hands working.  The water of the Hudson is both ink and blood, another kind of border, an emotional one.  Amidst intense lyricism, the reader is drawn into the water flowing through the channels, dripping down bodily indentations, or drifting down rivers of ink.