Floricanto Si!: A Collection of Latina Poetry

by Bryce Milligan (editor), Angela de Hoyos (Editor)

Floricanto Si combines the poetry of such major literary figures as Sandra Cisneros, Julia Alvarez, and Ana Castillo, with the work of a second generation of post-Chicano movement poets whose startlingly original voices are just being discovered.The forty-seven Latina contributors hail from the U.S., from New York to North Dakota. Their roots are in Mexico and the Caribbean, Argentina and Peru, Brazil and El Salvador. Yet their work is bound by common cultural themes, such as identity, bilingualism, machismo and political oppression, and by recurring allusions to the Virgin of Guadalupe, Sot Juana de la Cruz, Frida Kahlo, and various Aztec dieties. Further, there is a spirit of unity apparent in the sensual imagery and vibrancy of their poetic language.

Floricanto Si is a stunning collection that interprets America to itself in new ways. As the editors write in an introduction that covers the history of Latina poetry in the U.S., "Within this amazing multiplicity we find a new poetic sensibility emerging from a still-evolving mestiza consciousness. We are watching an ancient nebula birth new stars".

Genres: Poetry

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1998

Reviews

[712Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Usually I don't like to read poetry, but this book has a different feeling in it I feel like it was speaking to me.

[Felicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took my time with this book, picking it up and reading it over the course of several months. I wanted to absorb and reflect on these amazing works rather than consuming them quickly.

[Erin Moonyeen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I constantly pick this up for inspiration. I love that poems are in Spanish first and then in English. Of course, they sound more beautiful in Spanish. The best is "Marta Alvarado, profesora de historia" by Marjorie Agosin.

[Transnational · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Penguin books. Don't you? Here Bryce Milligan convenes the collective genius of Latina poetry in the United States, debuting new voices (back in 1998) and celebrated poets alike who are/were writing in Spanish, English, and the linguistic cocktail of Spanglish. Today many of those early and mid-career poets are now among the major forces of Latina/x poetry. Marjorie Agosin, Julia Alvarez, Gloria Anzaldua,Giannina Braschi, Norma E. Cantu, Ana Castillo, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Lisa Chavez, Sandra Cisneros, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Rosario Ferre, Cecile Pineda, and the list goes on and on. This should be required reading in American and world poetry classes.

[Lisa]

Floricanto Si!: U.S. Latina Poetry by Bryce Milligan (1998)

[Raquel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very nice collection of poems that paint a picture of the value that poetry has in our lives. Universal themes of love, family and death.