Synopsis "Silabas de Viento / Syllables of Wind"
Xanath Caraza's second full-length collection of verse, Silabas de viento / Syllables of Wind, establishes her as a premiere author of both Spanish and English verse. Her global reach is always rooted in her Indigenous American heritage. A native of Xalapa and resident of Kansas City, Caraza gives testimony to the powerful transformative experience of global identity. "From Olmeca land to Bilbao, Andalusia, Morocco, Bosnia, and back to the Midwest, Xanath Caraza's words flow like chants calling us back to the mystery and majesty of our ancient ones who surround us in the physical world. Her written imagery calls forth a poetic spirit in me that I did not hear before. I am grateful." Lara Medina, author of Las Hermanas: Chicana/Latina Religious-Political Activism in the U. S. Catholic Church (Temple University Press) "Reading these poems means disentangling those mysterious underpinnings, that commitment to culture itself, joined in a universal whole, in which there is an expression of the splendor of the jungle, the healing of the shaman, the sacred animal who we are as well, and a luminous daybreak overcoming death." Carlos J. Aldazabal, Introduccion / Introduction Xanath Caraza teaches at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and presents readings and workshops in Europe, Latin America, and the U.S. Her book of verse Conjuro (Mammoth) and book of short fiction Lo que trae la marea / What the Tide Brings In (Mouthfeel) have won national and international recognition.
