Poetry. Latino/Latina Studies. In her first full-length volume of poems, Ruth Irupe Sanabria explores language's power to destroy and create through narrative free-verse poems fueled by metaphor, music and satire. In the first section, the author writes about a genocidal dictatorship that began in 1976 and that brought about the disappearances and deaths of thousands of Argentines. Voices of the children of the disappeared are juxtaposed with "official" reports, illuminating their plight in vivid detail. The second section explores racism and poverty from the perspective of a Latina in the United States and is imbued with the rhythms of Latino music and jazz. In the third section, the poet considers the idea that victims of political violence may enable it through complicity, apathy, and guilt. Sanabria's poetry provides a fresh perspective on social injustice and on poetry itself.

Author City: PERTH AMBOY, NJ USA

Ruth Irupe Sanabria is a poet and activist. She was born in Argentina and grew up in Washington D.C. Since 1993 she has lived in New Jersey.