Arsonist

by Joaquin Zihuatanejo

Winner of the 2017 Anhinga Robert Dana Prize, selected by Eduardo C. Corral,

Arsonist is a shape-shifter of a book, a book that leaves the reader with an existential 'shivering', yet, it is on fire. Loaded with lethal chemicals, like, let us say, desire, abandonment, separation and industrialized lives without homelands, burning in their brutal severance, Arsonist is a spilling and boiling caldron of zig-zag figures, of wild colors split from their root, 'a son's desperate attempt to / clear the air' — of things that long to congeal, yet, they smash into blanks, smoke and the questions of forgiveness and birth. Here, a relentless, piercing clarity, a precious text without trappings, an examination of loss and love. I salute Zihuatanejo for this blistering beauty among the ashes.

Genres: Poetry

90 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 2018

About the author

Joaquín Zihuatanejo is a poet, spoken word artist, and award-winning teacher. Born and raised in the barrio of East Dallas, in his work Joaquín strives to capture the duality of the Chicano culture. Sometimes brutal, but always honest his work depicts the essence of barrio life, writing about a youth that existed somewhere between the streets of the barrio and the dream wanderings of a boy who found refuge in a world of stories and poems.

Reviews

[Amie Whittemore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful collection, full of heart and grit.

[Megan Hricovec · Rating 4 out of 5]

4✨

[Margaret Adams]

I saw Joaquin read in a group of IAIA alumn at a writing conference in Tempe, Arizona. He read well, and I was able to pick up a copy of his book after. My favorites were Archetypes, Nahui Ocelotl, For Your Damn Love, and On A Bed That Was Not Ours--the most prose-like of his poems, which I think says more about my taste in poetry than their relative quality within the collection.