There are two grand occasions in poetry these days---two landmark books by one landmark poet, Juan Felipe Herrera. I just got 187 Reasons Mexicanos Can't Cross the Border (City Lights)---a hefty and dynamic collection by the 'literary buzz-saw" (as Lorna Dee Cervantes called him recently) that is Herrera. 187 Reasons reappropriates Proposition 187 from 1994 and gives us glimpses of nine previous books and chapbooks, as well as new work. Among the new pieces I loved is the dead-on "21 Rational Reasons Republicans Can't Jump." I also just learned that his "new and selected," titled Half of the World in Light will be out in May. I am excited about this one. I would like to see additional New and Selecteds from more writers from Asian Pacific American, Latino/a, African American, and Native American backgrounds. Herrera is a poetic inspiration beyond comparison. I'm not feeling link-friendly at the moment, but you can find recent blog entries about Herrera at the sites of Oscar Bermeo, Lorna Dee Cervantes, La Bloga, Rigoberto Gonzalez at the Poetry Foundation, Barbara Jane Reyes, and The Unapologetic Mexican.

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I'm reading here this Saturday afternoon, with Sasha Pimentel Chacón and Veronica Guajardo!---looking forward to it.

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Just heard that Robert Vasquez and Francisco Aragon are reading in Visalia later this month!

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Just learned that Rigoberto González will be in Fresno on April 10 for the homage/publication celebration of In the Grove's tribute to Andrés Montoya.