Congratulations to Laurie Ann Guerrero, who has just been appointed San Antonio’s new Poet Laureate by Mayor Julian Castro. Guerrero, whose collection A Tongue in the Mouth of the Dying won the 2012 Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize, was a featured reader at HUIZACHE’s recent reading in Seattle.
Of her collection, Francisco X. Alarcón writes, “This is the poetry of both saints and sinners (and even murderers). The poet conjures up Pablo Neruda, Gloria Anzaldúa, Sylvia Plath, and is rooted in the best Latin American, Chicano/a, and contemporary American poetics, able to render an effective poetic version of Nepantla, the land where different traditions meet, according to Anzaldúa. These poems make the reader laugh, cry, cringe, lose one’s breath, and almost one’s mind, at times. These poems restore my faith in the power of poetry.”
And congratulations, too, to Carmen Tafolla, who has just completed her busy two-year term as the city’s first Poet Laureate, during which she conducted over one hundred events, ranging from school visits to public performances. Tafolla is the recipient of numerous honors, including two Tomás Rivera Book Awards, two ALA Notable Books, and the the prestigious Américas Book Award. She has been recognized by the National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies for work which “gives voice to the peoples and cultures of this land.”
We’re honored to have published them both in HUIZACHE.
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