ZAZ. By alurista
“Alurista es el mero mero, a ‘root’ Xicanx poet, the etymology of our post-colonial mind literature starts with this vato. These word-breaths are more than letters on paper—they are prophecies, clarities, unclarities, rage on page, and humo de copal on a warm spring day.”—Luis J. Rodriguez, author of “Borrowed Bones” and “My Nature is Hunger.”
"The poetry of alurista launched a thousand ships which spread out all over America, and it is one of those ships that I and other early Chicano poets stowed away on. None of us really had a clue that Chicano poetry was about to be born. And it still flourishes because alurista launched those ships." —Reyes Cárdenas, author of Chicano Poet 1979-2010 and Tortured Barrio Songs
Word Master
Word Maestro
Always in the Present Tense
You give us pause to inhale exhale
wisdom
beauty
sensuality
conscience
you b the one named tamed
Desolate Nazizona
Your heartbreaking questions
Teach us meaning
You make us One with All
Sacerdote of the Living Word
Heart. Soul. Blessing is u
—Denise Chávez is an Activist and Director of Libros Para El Viaje, an ongoing Refugee/Migrant/Asylum-seeker book initiative, and the author of The King and Queen of Comezón
“Alurista es el mero mero, a ‘root’ Xicanx poet, the etymology of our post-colonial mind literature starts with this vato. These word-breaths are more than letters on paper—they are prophecies, clarities, unclarities, rage on page, and humo de copal on a warm spring day.”—Luis J. Rodriguez, author of “Borrowed Bones” and “My Nature is Hunger.”
"The poetry of alurista launched a thousand ships which spread out all over America, and it is one of those ships that I and other early Chicano poets stowed away on. None of us really had a clue that Chicano poetry was about to be born. And it still flourishes because alurista launched those ships." —Reyes Cárdenas, author of Chicano Poet 1979-2010 and Tortured Barrio Songs
Word Master
Word Maestro
Always in the Present Tense
You give us pause to inhale exhale
wisdom
beauty
sensuality
conscience
you b the one named tamed
Desolate Nazizona
Your heartbreaking questions
Teach us meaning
You make us One with All
Sacerdote of the Living Word
Heart. Soul. Blessing is u
—Denise Chávez is an Activist and Director of Libros Para El Viaje, an ongoing Refugee/Migrant/Asylum-seeker book initiative, and the author of The King and Queen of Comezón
“Alurista es el mero mero, a ‘root’ Xicanx poet, the etymology of our post-colonial mind literature starts with this vato. These word-breaths are more than letters on paper—they are prophecies, clarities, unclarities, rage on page, and humo de copal on a warm spring day.”—Luis J. Rodriguez, author of “Borrowed Bones” and “My Nature is Hunger.”
"The poetry of alurista launched a thousand ships which spread out all over America, and it is one of those ships that I and other early Chicano poets stowed away on. None of us really had a clue that Chicano poetry was about to be born. And it still flourishes because alurista launched those ships." —Reyes Cárdenas, author of Chicano Poet 1979-2010 and Tortured Barrio Songs
Word Master
Word Maestro
Always in the Present Tense
You give us pause to inhale exhale
wisdom
beauty
sensuality
conscience
you b the one named tamed
Desolate Nazizona
Your heartbreaking questions
Teach us meaning
You make us One with All
Sacerdote of the Living Word
Heart. Soul. Blessing is u
—Denise Chávez is an Activist and Director of Libros Para El Viaje, an ongoing Refugee/Migrant/Asylum-seeker book initiative, and the author of The King and Queen of Comezón
“Alurista, the proto-poet laureate of Aztlan whose enigmatic nom de plume has long been synonymous with Chicano poetry, returns with a pristine and rarefied homecoming coda. ZAZ (in Caló: “bam!” or “right on!”), recalls classic Spik in Glyph? multi-dimensional sonic, phonetic and textual word play burnished by astonishing and unapologetic interlingual English, Spanish, Nahuatl and Caló hybridity. The spare and resonant verse gathered in this arresting volume speaks to the mundane, the profane and the esoteric simultaneously. At once ceremonial prayer chants and oracular pronouncements, the poems shimmer yet remained anchored by a welcome formal purity. This collection brings the internationally acclaimed alurista—a leading voice at the historic, first-ever Festival de Flor y Canto (USC, 1973)—home as well to a dynamic new imprint named in honor of that venerated floricanto (“flower-song” from the Nahuatl) tradition.”—Abel M. Salas, Editor/Publisher Brooklyn & Boyle: Art, Culture & Community
Alberto Baltazar Urista Heredia, known as Alurista, is a Chicano poet and activist. He was born in Mexico City and moved to San Diego with his family at the age of 13. He earned a BA in psychology and MA in literature from San Diego State University, and a PhD in literature from University of California, San Diego. Alurista is one of the first poets to blend English and Spanish languages in his writing, as well as various slangs of both. He is the author of many books, including Xicano Duende: A Select Anthology (2011), Tunaluna (2010), As our barrio turns: who the yoke b on? (2000), Z Eros (1995), and Et Tu ... Raza? (1995). He has written many essays and literary criticisms on the Chicano Movement and on Chicano culture, which have been widely published in anthologies, journals, and newspapers.