Críticas Magazine

Adriana V. Lopez

Poet Juan Felipe Ferrera Charms the NYTBR
August 13, 2008

Great news: A Chicano and anti-establishment poet got a glowing review in this past Sunday’s New York Times Book Review. Juan Felipe Herera, born in Fowler, California in 1948, has published 24 books that include collections of poetry, short stories, young adult novels and picture books for children. He is a professor at the University of California, Riverside and was involved in the El Movimiento Chicano (the Chicano Civil Rights Movement) as a poet and as a uperformer in experimental theater influenced by Luis Valdez, Artraud, Allen Ginsberg, and the Open Theatre. His latest two books 187 Reason Mexicanos Can’t Cross the Border Undocuments 1971-2007 (City Lights) and Half of the World in Light New and Selected Poems (The University of Arizona Press) were reviewed positively by Stephen Burt. Here’s how he describes him, “Herrera …a sometimes hermetic, wildly inventive, always unpredictable poet, whose work commands attention for its style alone. If there is one earlier writer Herrera resembles, that writer is Allen Ginsberg, whose volatile temperament he shares.” Felicitaciones Juan Felipe.

Works by Juan Felipe Herrera

         1.Rebozos of Love. Tolteca Publications. 1974.
2. Exiles of Desire. Arte Publico Press. University of Houston. 1985.
3. Facegames. Dragon Cloud Press. 1987.
4. Akrílica. Alcatraz Editions. 1989.
5. Memoria(s) from an Exile's Notebook of the Future. Santa Monica College Press. 1993. . [Poetry Chapbook].
6. The Roots of a Thousand Embraces: Dialogues. Manic D. Press. San Francisco. 1994.
7. Night Train to Tuxtla: New Stories and Poems. University of Arizona. 1994.
8. Calling the Doves / Canto a Las Palomas. Children's Book Press. San Francisco, CA [Bilingual children's story]. Fall 1995
9. Love After the Riots. Curbstone Press. Willimantic, NY. 1996
10. Mayan Drifter: Chicano Poet in the Lowlands of America. Temple University Press. Philadelphia, Pa. Spring 1997.
11. Border-Crosser with a Lamborghini Dream. University of Arizona Press. 1999.
12. Loteria Cards & Fortune Poems. City Lights Publishers. SF. Fall, 1999.
13. CrashBoomLove: A Novel in Verse. University of New Mexico. Fall 1999.
14. The Upside Down Boy/El Nino de Cabeza. Children's Book Press, SF. 2000.
15. Thunderweavers. University of Az. Tucson. 2000.
16. Giraffe on Fire. Poems. Univ. Az. Press. Tucson. 2001.
17. Grandma & Me at the Flea / Los Meros Meros Remateros. Children’s Books Press. SF., CA, 2002
18. Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smuggler. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. 2002.
19. Cilantro Girl / La Superniña del Cilantro. Children’s Book Press. S.F., CA 2003.
20. Coralito's Bay / La Bahia de Coralito. Monterey National Marine Sanctuary. Monterey. 2004
21. Cinnamon Girl: Letters Found Inside a Cereal Box. Harper Collins, Joanna Cotler Books /Tempest. New York. 2005.
22. Downtown Boy. Scholastic Press. Scholastic. New York. 2005.
23. 187 Reasons Mexicanos Can't Cross The Border Undocuments 1971-2007. City Lights Publishers. San Francisco. 2007.
 24. Half of the World in Light. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. 2008

Posted by Adriana V. Lopez on August 13, 2008 | Comments (0)