Zaz

Poetry. Latinx Studies. Native American Studies. California Interest. alurista the proto-poet laureate of Aztlan whose enigmatic nom de plume has long been synonymous with Chicano poetry returns with a pristine and rarefied homecoming coda. ZAZ (in Caló: bam! or right on!) recalls classic Spik in Glyph? multidimensional sonic phonetic and textual word play burnished by astonishing and unapologetic interlingual English Spanish Nahuatl and Caló hybridity. The spare and resonant verse gathered in this arresting volume speaks to the mundane the profane and the esoteric simultaneously. At once ceremonial prayer chants and oracular pronouncements the poems shimmer yet remained anchored by a welcome formal purity. This collection brings the internationally acclaimed alurista--a leading voice at the historic first-ever Festival de Flor y Canto (USC 1973)--home as well to a dynamic new imprint named in honor of that venerated floricanto (flower-song from the Nahuatl) tradition.--Abel M. Salas. alurista es el mero mero a root Xicanx poet the etymology of our post-colonial mind literature starts with this vato. These word-breaths are more than letters on paper--they are prophecies clarities unclarities rage on page and humo de copal on a warm spring day.--Luis J. Rodriguez