The Elegant Variation: GUEST REVIEW: THE WIND SHIFTS

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June 20, 2007

GUEST REVIEW: THE WIND SHIFTS

The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry
Edited by Francisco Aragón
The University of Arizona Press
272 pp. (paperback)
$17.95

REVIEWED BY DANIEL A. OLIVAS

In his introduction to The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry, editor Francisco Aragón recounts the history of similar anthologies going back to 1992. He informs us that Ray González, an editor of one such collection, had observed that Latino writers used their poetry to find "ways to overcome political barriers placed upon them" and "preserving the traditions of a culture" that emphasize "close familial ties."

Aragón notes that "poems that address the social and the political continue to be vital strands in Latino poetry today." However, with time comes change and evolution. Aragón believes that "the canvas is now larger, its border expanded to include subject matter that is not overtly political."

The Wind Shifts showcases 25 emerging Latino and Latina poets who succeed on the power and beauty of their language and ideas, no matter what the subject matter.

To be sure, the larger canvas is one of the most striking aspects of this new anthology. True, as Aragón states, there are poems that can be called "social" or "political," such as Paul Martínez Pompa's succinct cry against inner-city violence in his poem, "How to Hear Chicago":

Here a spirit must yell
to be heard yet a bullet
need only whisper to
make its point -- sometimes I imagine
you right before your death
with an entire city in your ears.

There is also Adela Najarro's "San Francisco," where cultures collide and mingle and jostle for attention:

Above a Cuban restaurant, where waiters serve
black bean hummus and chocolate croissants,
hangs the gay pride flag alongside
a Direct TV satellite dish.

But, as Aragón promises, there are pieces here that expand the poetic canvas to include, for example, David Hernandez's "Wile E. Coyote Attains Nirvana" which is inspired by the famously thwarted -- and starving -- cartoon character:

Back
from the afterlife, he meditates
under a sandstone arch
and gets it: craving equals suffering.
The bulb of enlightenment
blazes over his head.

We are treated to a variety of voices and styles. Urayoán Noel is in full poetry-slam mode in the six-part "Kool Logic":

Some say modern man is hollow,
Others say it's a condition
Called 'postmodern.' Do you follow?
Could this use some exposition?

In the poignant "Listening for Her," Lidia Torres describes the changing roles once age has overtaken a mother's mental capacity:

I clean my mother's body
abandoned long ago by its brains cells.
She allows me to move her limbs,
unfold her skin, yielding
like an infant.

And in Carolina Monsivais' "Seasons of Writing," the poet describes the quicksilver nature of putting words onto paper:

Sometimes the clouds
in my mind fill up
and at first
drop like a drizzle
gently covering
the page in a mist…

There are poems of all styles, from avant-garde to traditional, inspired by myriad human experiences: an evocative Frida Kahlo painting; helping one's father cut lawns for the wealthy; Bible stories; the quiet horror of testing positive for HIV; accidentally killing the family cat. In other words, The Wind Shifts presents new Latino poetry in all its varied forms and subject matter by innovative, intrepid writers who purposefully stretch the canvas upon which they paint.

This is a compelling and exhilarating addition to Latino letters.

Daniel A. Olivas is the author of five books including Devil Talk: Stories (Bilingual Press). He shares blogging duties on La Bloga, which is dedicated to Chicano literature and art. His Web site is http://www.danielolivas.com and he may be reached at [email protected]. This review first appeared in the El Paso Times.

Posted at 12:12 AM in Reviews | Permalink

Comments

I disagree only to the extent of labeling it a great addition to Latino letters. I acquired a copy based on this review - and it's an amazing adition to poetry, period.

Posted by: Brady Westwater | June 25, 2007 at 01:05 PM

I disagree only to the extent of labeling it a great addition to Latino letters. I acquired a copy based on this review - and it's an amazing adition to poetry, period.

Posted by: Brady Westwater | June 25, 2007 at 01:05 PM

Point well taken. Thanks!

Posted by: daniel olivas | August 06, 2007 at 09:42 AM

The comments to this entry are closed.

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The Elegant Variation is "Fowler’s (1926, 1965) term for the inept writer’s overstrained efforts at freshness or vividness of expression. Prose guilty of elegant variation calls attention to itself and doesn’t permit its ideas to seem naturally clear. It typically seeks fancy new words for familiar things, and it scrambles for synonyms in order to avoid at all costs repeating a word, even though repetition might be the natural, normal thing to do: The audience had a certain bovine placidity, instead of The audience was as placid as cows. Elegant variation is often the rock, and a stereotype, a cliché, or a tired metaphor the hard place between which inexperienced or foolish writers come to grief. The familiar middle ground in treating these homely topics is almost always the safest. In untrained or unrestrained hands, a thesaurus can be dangerous."

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*Now in Paperback*

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SECOND LOOK

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The Elegant Variation

A Literary Weblog.
A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog
"Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

June 20, 2007

GUEST REVIEW: THE WIND SHIFTS

Comments

MY NOVEL

WORTHY READINGS

TEV DEFINED

RECOMMENDED

THIS GUN FOR HIRE:
Reviews & Criticism

SECOND LOOK

Categories

The Elegant Variation

A Literary Weblog. A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog "Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

June 20, 2007

GUEST REVIEW: THE WIND SHIFTS

Comments

MY NOVEL

WORTHY READINGS

TEV DEFINED

RECOMMENDED

THIS GUN FOR HIRE: Reviews & Criticism

SECOND LOOK

Categories

A Literary Weblog.
A Guardian Top 10 Literary Blog * A Forbes "Best of the Web" Pick * A Los Angeles Magazine Top Los Angeles Blog
"Really brave ... or really stupid" - NPR

THIS GUN FOR HIRE:
Reviews & Criticism