By Amelia Potter ’26
Staff Writer
Content warning: This article mentions child abuse, mental illness, racism and racialized violence.
Lasting from mid-September to mid-October, National Hispanic Heritage Month is a time during which the cultural contributions and histories of those with Hispanic ancestry are commemorated. The three texts listed below are books of verse by contemporary Hispanic authors.
‘Magnificent Errors’ by Sheryl Luna
This collection of poems details the experiences of individuals often marginalized in society such as immigrants, addicts and homeless people. According to Notre Dame Press, the book “stems from Luna’s personal experiences in transitional housing after being temporarily homeless.” Luna uses evocative and atmospheric language throughout the book, assuming an array of perspectives ranging from the exploration of mental health challenges to artistic mediums in order to emphasize the strength and resilience of the subjects. In the book, she recounts her own childhood difficulties with abuse and mental illness with vulnerability. The Notre Dame Press described Luna’s stories as “lyrical, narrative and often highly personal.”
Luna grew up in El Paso, Texas, and earned her Ph.D. from the University of North Texas in Contemporary Literature. “Magnificent Errors” won Luna the 2022 Ernest Sandeen Prize in Poetry. Her initial collection, “Pity the Drowned Horses,” garnered the Adrés Montoya Poetry Prize for emerging Latinx poets in 2005.
‘Living on Islands Not Found on Maps’ by Luivette Resto
“Living on Islands Not Found on Maps” is a wide-ranging assemblage of poems with a flow that feels “both playfully wise and necessary,” board member Urayoán Noel of The Latinx Project wrote on their website. Resto explores different stylistic choices for her verses, including lists and villanelles. The main theme of Resto’s collection is her “moving depiction of the beauty and struggle of interlingual urban lives,” Noel continued in his review. With forceful honesty, Resto also tackles issues seemingly polar in scope — from politics, violence and gun control to gender, sexuality and R.B.F. — “resting bitch face.” Luivette Resto was born in Puerto Rico, grew up in the Bronx and does most of her work in Los Angeles, CA. “Living on Islands Not Found On Maps” is her third book of poems. She previously authored “Unfinished Portrait” and “Ascension,” both of which feature the wisdom and humor that have become her trademark.
‘Desgraciado (the collected letters)’ by Angel Dominguez
“Desgraciado (the collected letters)” is organized in the form of letters directed toward Diego de Landa, a Roman Catholic Bishop who historically endeavored to eradicate the Mayan written language and culture, as Britannica reported. According to a Goodreads synopsis, Dominguez writes with “critical and tender language,” to explore the “material violence and generational trauma of colonization and systemic racism stored within queer, Latinx memory.” Nightboat Books writes that the collection “doesn’t seek to heal the incurable wound of colonization so much as attempt to rearticulate a language towards recuperation.” Thus, Dominguez stresses that a reckoning is necessary to reframe the lingering harm of colonialism and the consequential generational trauma it caused.
Dominguez was raised in California by immigrant parents and is of Yucatec Maya descent. They attended the University of California Santa Cruz and Naropa University. Dominguez is the author of the poetry collections “ROSESUNWATER” and “Black Lavender Milk.”