The Mountain in the Sea

by Victor Hernández Cruz

Overview

Renowned for his pioneering mixture of both Spanish and English in poetry and prose, Victor Hernández Cruz has now incorporated Arabic language and North African culture into his unique poetic idiom. As Cruz builds poetic bridges between Arab-influenced Spain, Spanish-influenced North Africa, African—influenced Puerto Rico, and an electrified Latino New York, he uncovers the confluence between their various geographies, histories, languages, and mythologies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781566891912
Publisher:	Coffee House Press
Publication date:	10/01/2006
Pages:	136
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Cruz is a two-time World Heavyweight Champion poet featured in Bill Moyers' "Language of Life" series whose most recent collection, Maraca, was a finalist for the Lenore Marshall and Griffin Poetry Prizes. Five-years-old when he moved with his family from Puerto Rico to New York, Cruz now divides his time between Morocco, Puerto Rico, and the US.

Editorial Reviews

This internationally known Nuyorican poet born in Puerto Rico starts his new collection with poems on Morocco, then proceeds to portray such figures as Jorge Luis Borges, who "in the audio mandala of his house" took "narrative as a wife," as well as Ramon Mongo Santamaria and the medieval philosopher Averro s with his "Berber bones," "Arab nose," and "Romance blood." Cruz is energized by the infusion of cultures he observes around him. Spaniards are more Spanish for their association with the Arabs, Arabs grew wiser for associating with the Greeks, and the Christianity of the poet's ancestors and the Islam of his Moroccan wife both descend from Judaism. The poet recalls newsreels of "Europe's barbarous cold murder" at the same time his grandmother's brown hands spliced tobacco in the tropics. A third section includes "Tricofero," for his father, who died in 2005. If you want illusions, the poet says, go watch Walt Disney. If you want to see the face of humanity, "talk to my father Severo," whose illiterate mother misspelled his name when she registered his birth. Mature and inspiring poetry for a global consciousness.-Jack Shreve, Allegany Coll. of Maryland, Cumberland, MD Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

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