Flourishing Shadows / Sombras Florecientes

Juan Felipe Herrera was born in 1948 to farmworker parents. He is a graduate of UCLA, Stanford, and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. The author of thirty-five books in various genres, Herrera served as poet laureate of the United States from 2015 to 2017. Herrera has taught Chicano and Latin American studies at California State University, Fresno, and creative writing at the University of California, Riverside, and has held numerous visiting positions. He is a professor emeritus in the Department of Chicano and Latin American Studies, Fresno State University, and is the current coordinator for the Laureate Lab Visual Wordist Studio at the Fresno State Library.Lauro Flores is a professor at the University of Washington. He is the author, editor, and translator of several publications, including the anthology The Floating Borderlands, winner of the American Book Award.

"Juan Felipe Herrera's extended poem acutely captures the contemporary political climate as he offers insights and urges us to listen and to unite in urgent and brilliant poetry; with a voice of resistance he clamors: We will not be mass deported. With Sombras Florcientes/Flourishing Shadows, Juan Felipe Herrera offers a poem for our times! At once a meditation and a call to action, he is ever rooted in our rich Chicano poetic tradition of resistance and affirmation."—Norma E. Cantú, editor of Chicana Portraits: Critical Biographies of Twelve Chicana Writers"These trance-like poems appeal to our better senses for compassion toward vulnerable (im)migrants who pursue their dreams to take root in 'lands that were once theirs.' They are shadow people flourishing as creators of a brave new way. The calm, measured poetic voice seduces us with masterful strokes of empathetic reasoning to avoid anyone's mass deportation."—Francisco A. Lomelí, Distinguished Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara"Juan Felipe Herrera is a titan, a master, and a poetic warrior! In this latest collection, his wise and vibrant voice is a beacon and call to action. He gathers the trajectory of his career in poetry and community, and blows a hard breath into this long-poem for all to hear and heed. The poet invites us to remember who we are, where we've been, and what we carry in our collective hearts. He reminds us of our own humanity!"—Tim Z. Hernandez, author of They Call You Back: A Lost History, A Search, A Memoir"Juan Felipe Herrera's beautifully written book-length poem, Flourishing Shadows, speaks directly to the important issue in our nation today, that is immigration. The topic is highlighted throughout the brilliantly composed stanzas via both historical and autobiographical incursions. In conversation with, 'America,' Herrera stresses humankind's right to migrate and specifically, the Mexican people's right to return to what was their homeland up until 1848. This splendid poem includes an outstanding Foreword and a Spanish translation by Professor Lauro Flores."—Maria Herrera-Sobek, Professor Emerita, University of California, Santa Barbara