Paraíso

Winner, 2017 CantoMundo Poetry Prize.

Paraíso, the first book in the new CantoMundo Poetry
Series, which celebrates the work of Latino/a poets writing
in English, is a pilgrimage against sorrow. Erupting from a
mother’s death, the poems follow the speaker as he tries to
survive his grief. Catholicism, family, good rum . . . these
help, but the real medicine happens when the speaker pushes
into the cloud forest alone.
In a Costa Rica far away from touristy beaches, we
encounter bus trips over the cold mountains of the dead,
drug dealers with beautiful dogs, and witches with cell
phones. Science fuses with religion, witchcraft is joined with
technology, and eventually grief transforms into belief.
Throughout, Paraíso defies categorization, mixing its
beautiful sonnets with playful games and magic cures for the
reader. In the process, moments of pure life mingle with the
aftermath of a death.