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Conjuro

Xánath Caraza's first book-length collection Conjuro(Spellbound), with introduction by Fred Arroyo, is published by Mammoth Publications, a Native-owned literary press. In this tri-lingual text, Caraza combines Spanish, English, and Nahuatl (language of the Aztecs) to create a continuous spell of verse. Caraza's writing derives from her awareness of Indigenous thought: words are tangible objects, not abstractions, and capable of influencing physical reality's web of interactions. The poet's connection to her Indigenous and Mexican heritage energizes her meditations and proclamations, which are set in Veracruz, Spain, Paris, Chicago, and Kansas City, her present home. Caraza is a dynamic performance poet as well as a skilled writer. This debut collection establishes her as a major voice of 21st American letters. This book shows how multiple cultures co-exist for United States immigrants. It is appropriate for young adults, Latin American Studies, Indigenous American Studies, and Midwest U.S. Studies. Xánath Caraza is a traveler, educator, poet and short story writer. Originally from Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico, she is a Kansas City resident. She has an M.A. in Romance Languages. She lectures in Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her chapbook Corazón Pintado: Ekphrastic Poems (2012) is from TL Press. She won the 2003 Ediciones Nuevo Espacio international short story contest in Spanish and was a 2008 finalist for the first international John Barry Award. Caraza is an advisory circle member of the Con Tinta literary organization and a former board member of the Latino Writers Collective in Kansas City. Rigoberto González writes of Conjuro: "A decisively Amerindian song breathes through the pages of Xánath Caraza's Conjuro, a charitable book of invocation, incantation, lamentation and healing. Caraza's poems are the antidote to our troubled times: they reach toward ancestral spirit and woman-strength, they collect wisdom from the natural and experiential landscapes, they reorient language away from duplicity and back to the "oral traditions of the heart." A truly moving, and spellbinding, debut."

Paperback: 144 pages

Publisher: Mammoth Publications (September 21, 2012)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0983799563

ISBN-13: 978-0983799566

Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.3 x 9 inches

Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Best Sellers Rank: #913,291 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #56 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Regional & Cultural > United States > Native American #97 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Regional & Cultural > United States > Hispanic American #242 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Poetry > Regional & Cultural > Caribbean & Latin American

This book is a jewel waiting to be discovered. Poems are written in Spanish and English and "reach toward out troubled times; they reach toward ancestral spirit and woman-strength." The flavor was rich in content and landscapes. The beauty that life holds is all here.

There is no justice that can be done for these poems. These words have no rival, no law and no foe. Because they are not words. They are incantations calling across time, traveling through flesh, residing in the core -- the center of the body, the essence of the earth. They balance truth with intention and expose the lie.Nature is truth. Lyrics speak truth. These remind us that every view is one of color -- vegetation, flowers, overwhelming blue sky above and green beneath. Sounds of rushing waves flow under twinkling nights. The sumptuous fruits gifted to man by God have been passed along.Arresting, these poems critique the thinning of God's gift, its replacement -- man's granite industrial complexes. Chaos for peace. They critique how we accept it all and ask why the lie is more comfortable.In English, Spanish, and Nahuatl, Xanath Caraza creates a work that exists in duality -- captivity and freedom, sound and silence. A spiritual experience, a romance with the divine, Conjuro uses the power of love to invoke the titles of the forgotten, the labels on the misplaced, the names of the oppressed.Representing memories, the energy of the book reveals the heart, not just the mind, both accepting and creating a legacy. The pattern of transformation, beauty, and grace is discovered within these pages.Land may be compromised, the traditions, the people, the language, but nothing truly dies. Our inheritance is in our blood. Not only is the official history false, but so is the loss itself. We are still here and we will remain, so rooted in the earth, in our past, in our future.Much like Siddhartha or Y'shua teaching their flock about their birthright of divinity, Conjuro, through spells and chants, awakens us to the Godly gifts that continue, to the glory of our ancestry, to the power of now.

‎"Xanath Caraza's 'Conjuro' -- a book of quintessential beauty and great poetic depth. The language, in both the English and Spanish versions, is impeccable and the metaphors and images are awe-inspiring. I only wish I had had the opportunity to learn Nahuatl to feel these poems directly in my own tongue and ears."- Carlos Parada Ayala

Hola Xanath! I wanted to share with you that I was reading Conjuro on the train to work yesterday and it literally carried me into another world! I was completely immersed in your words when I felt myself moving. I looked up from the book and realized I was on the train and panicked because for about five long seconds I had no idea why I was on the train or where I was supposed to be going! It was fantastic!! Powerful and magical words! Thank you!!

Conjuro