Portrait of Us Burning: Poems

A powerful debut collection exploring one family’s pursuit of the American Dream

Sebastián H. Páramo renders a semi—autobiographical collection, utilizing self—portraiture and memory to uncover how his Texan, working—class, Mexican American identity shapes his relationship to his half brother and to his family’s burning desire to become American.

Portrait of Us Burning begins with the humble picture of an immigrant American family. This picture starts to disintegrate—and, ultimately, burns—w...