The Whole Earth Is a Garden of Monsters / Toda la tierra es un jardín de monstruos

by Manuel Iris, Kevin McHugh (Translator)

Winner of the Ambroggio Prize of the Academy of American Poets

This award-winning bilingual collection intertwines the lives of a Renaissance painter and a modern migrant worker, offering a fresh perspective on art and migration.

In this highly imaginative work, the lives of the northern Renaissance painter Hieronymus Bosch (1450–1516) and an imagined contemporary migrant worker named Juan Coyoc, later known as Juan Domínguez, run in parallel as they mirror each other across languages, time, and continents.

By comparing and at times intertwining these two poetic narratives, the book explores themes of art, migration, narco-violence, family, spirituality, and the idea that every human being represents all humanity at any moment in history. Both Hieronymus Bosch and Juan Domínguez become relatable and intimate figures, part of our own story.

Written in simple, sharp language, the book employs surprising imagery and a novel structure to blur the boundaries between reality and fiction, while examining the intricacies of the human condition—from the life of Saint Anthony to the violent acts of narcos across Central America and the U.S.-Mexico border. With formal sophistication and philosophical depth, this work enriches the tradition of poetry about both migration and art, contributing to the literary heritage of Mexico and the United States over the past several decades.

123 pages, Paperback

Published February 24, 2026

About the author

Manuel Iris is a Mexican-born, bilingual American poet who has served as Poet Laureate of Cincinnati, Ohio, Writer-in-Residence at the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library, and Writer-in-Residence at Thomas More University. In 2021, he was named a member of the prestigious National System of Art Creators of Mexico. Iris is the author of five poetry collections, published in several countries. He has received national and international recognition for his poetic work, including the Ambroggio poetry prize from the Academy of American Poets for his forthcoming book, The whole earth is a garden of monsters/Toda la tierra es un jardín de monstruos. In 2023, the Autonomous University of Chiapas in Mexico released Translator of Silence: Critical Approaches to Manuel Iris’s Literary Works [Traductor del silencio: acercamientos críticos a la obra de Manuel Iris], a collection of essays, reviews, and interviews by 23 authors exploring his poetry.

Reviews

[Austin LaVigne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wouldn't have thought to compare the life and art of one of the most well-known Renaissance artists and the plight of Latin American migrant workers in the United States, but Manuel Iris makes it all make sense. This collection is devastating and horrifying, showing that Hell is as much an active creation of man as it is a Biblical realm.

[Matt McBride · Rating 5 out of 5]

A harrowing collection about whose story becomes art and whose story is lost to fire, about who sees God and who God sees, about whose hell is imaginary, and whose hell is real.

[John Burroughs · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book!