Paraíso

Winner, 2017 CantoMundo Poetry Prize.Paraíso, the first book in the new CantoMundo PoetrySeries, which celebrates the work of Latino/a poets writingin English, is a pilgrimage against sorrow. Erupting from amother’s death, the poems follow the speaker as he tries tosurvive his grief. Catholicism, family, good rum . . . thesehelp, but the real medicine happens when the speaker pushesinto the cloud forest alone.In a Costa Rica far away from touristy beaches, weencounter bus trips over the cold mountains of the dead,drug dealers with beautiful dogs, and witches with cellphones. Science fuses with religion, witchcraft is joined withtechnology, and eventually grief transforms into belief.Throughout, Paraíso defies categorization, mixing itsbeautiful sonnets with playful games and magic cures for thereader. In the process, moments of pure life mingle with theaftermath of a death.