Each and Her

In 2004 twenty-eight women and young girls were murdered in Ciudad Juárezandthe surrounding areas. The tragedy escalated to fifty-eight murders in 2006, then again to eighty-six in 2008,and current estimates top four hundred deaths. Now poet Valerie Martínez offers a poetic exploration of these events, pushing boundaries?stylisticallyandartistically?with vivid poems that contextualize femicide. Martínez departs from traditional narrative to reveal the hidden effectsandoutcomes of the horrificandheart-wrenching cases of femicide. These poems?lyric fragmentsandprose passages that form a collage?have an intricate relation to one another, creating a complex literary quilt that feels like it can be read from the beginning, the end, or anywhere in between. Martínez is personally invested in the topic, evoking the loss ofhersister,andEachandHeremerges as a biography of sortsanda compelling homage to all those who have suffered. Otherauthors may elaborate on or investigate this topic, but Martínez humanizes it by including names, quotations, realistic details,andstark imagery. The women of Juárez, like otherwomen around the world, are ravaged by inequality, discontinuity, politics,andeconomic plagues that contribute to gender violence. Martínez offers us a poignantandalarming glance into anotherworld with these never-before-told stories.Herrefreshingandexplosive voice will keep readers transfixedandintrigued about these eventsandemotions?removed from usandyet so close to the heart.