A History of Echoes: Poems - Softcover

Rodriguez, Rod Carlos

Softcover

ISBN 10: 194072449X ISBN 13: 9781940724492

Publisher: Gival Press, 2024

Synopsis

Winner of the Gival Press Poetry Award

“Rodriguez’ exquisite lyricism sweeps through Puerto Rican history to the present. Each poem in A History of Echoes is a singular gem, but the expanse of this book immerses the reader deep into a mythic realm where music and rhythm take over, carry us on a profoundly sensuous journey. A gourd bursting open releases an ocean, sea turtles emerge from a wound in a man’s back, ships arrive with ‘ugly, / upright animals [who] seemed//as gods, at first,’ men who speak ‘ugly noise’ and have ‘buticaco eyes.’ The horror of Spanish plunderers, visitations by gods to the contemporaries like the poet Julia de Burgos, and images of Puerto Rican freedom fighters seized my imagination and left me with awe for this book.”—Beverly Burch, judge & author of Leave Me a Little Want

“In A History of Echoes: Poems, Texan poet Rod Carlos Rodríguez crafts a repository of the long marginalized, but not lost, cultural Taíno heritage. Poetry turns into an act of preserving the unique language, stories, and traditions of our Taíno ancestry. In this captivating and poignant collection of poems, and like a bohíque or shaman, Rodríguez’s voice amplifies the polyvocality of presences that still stream down in our blood. His work pays homage to Taíno culture and its history with grace, depth, and beauty. A History of Echoes explores the complexities of identity, belonging, and memory as Rodríguez’s poems sublimate into lyrical and evocative language, rendered with reverence and authenticity.”
—Elidio La Torre Lagares, author of Wonderful Wasteland and Other Natural Disasters: Poems

Edition details

• Publisher: Gival Press
• Publication date: 2024
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 194072449X
• ISBN 13: 9781940724492
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 104