Mouth to Mouth: Poems by Twelve Contemporary Mexican Women

by Forrest Gander (editor)

A landmark anthology contains poetry from twelve of the brightest modern Mexican women and illustrates the impact that these poets are having on the course of modern Mexican literature. Original.

Genres: Poetry

233 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1993

About the author

Born in the Mojave Desert, Forrest Gander grew up in Virginia and spent significant periods in San Francisco, Dolores Hidalgo (Mexico), and Eureka Springs, Arkansas before moving to Rhode Island. He holds degrees in literature and in geology, a subject that recurs in his writing and for which his work has been connected to ecological poetics.

Collaboration has been an important engagement for Gander who, over the years, has worked with artists such as Ann Hamilton, Sally Mann, Eiko & Koma, Lucas Foglia, Ashwini Bhat, Richard Hirsch & Michael Rogers. He also translates extensively and has edited several anthologies of contemporary poetry from Latin America, Spain, and Japan.

He writes across the genres. A recent project with the Chilean poet Raul Zurita is Pinholes in the Night Essential Poems from Latin America. Other titles by Gander include The Trace, a novel set on the border with Mexico; Fungus Skull Eye Wing Selected Poems of Alfonso D'Aquino, translations; and Redstart an Ecological Poetics, essays and poems written with John Kinsella. Gander's 2011 book of poems, Core Samples from the World, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Reviews

[Edita]

Lonelier than ever
because in a sea without waves, in cloth
so taut it never ends, there is no one to listen
to me, and I know I can never go back

— Carmen Boullosa
*
Memory: can you hear me?
You grow, like some forgotten thing
And what I am forgives what I have been

— Gloria Gervitz

[Morbid Swither]

This anthology of poetry authored by twelve Mexican women is highly recommended, not least of all for the obvious brilliance of the poets selected by the editor and purely translated by the various translators. The format of the book allows for telling glimpses into the persona of the poets with brief but perceptive prefaces to their work, in their own words. MOUTH TO MOITH brought me to the work of Coral Bracho and Carmen Boullosa for the first time, which has me seeking out more right away. Though the 6-10 pages allocated to each of the 12 poets doesn’t always satiate my appetite, especially in the case of Coral Bracho, it does seem adequate as an introductory profile. Really good!