Poetry. Fluent in English and Spanish, Huerta writes poems in both languages, and occasionally combines the two in the same poem. In this, his first full-length collection of poetry, he explores themes of dislocation, loss, love, and art. Whether mourning the tragic suffocating deaths of immigrants in a tractor trailer, lamenting the loss of a lover, or writing about childhood fears, Huerta sketches haunting pieces about a bilingual, bicultural experience. In Coyote, Huerta evokes a child's unvoiced fear about his father, who, his cousins tell him, is a coyote, an immigrant smuggler. "I was only six so I pictured Father on all fours with tongue out, panting, on the prowl." Winner of the University of California, Irvine's 2005 Chicano/Latino Literary Prize, this debut collection marks the arrival of a vibrant new voice in Mexican American literature.

Author Hometown: Berkeley, CA USA



About the author: JAVIER O. HUERTA's poems have been included in numerous anthologies, including Red, White, and Blues (University of Iowa Press, 2004), and journals such as Punto de Partida at the Universidad Nacional Aut¢noma de M‚xico. A native of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, he currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where he is working on his doctorate in English at the University of California, Berkeley.

Reviews:
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