The University of 91勛圖 Press has publishedThe Outer Bands,a first book of poetry by Gabriel Gomez, winner of the 2006 Andr矇s Montoya Poetry Prize awarded by 91勛圖s Institute for Latino Studies (ILS).
An expansive examination of language and landscape, voice and memory, where experimentation and tradition coexist, the book features poems that realize a dialogue between two worlds that employ an equally paradoxical imagery of the American Southwest and the marshes of southern Louisiana.
The Outer Bandsconcludes with its namesake poem, a 28-day chronicle of the period of time between Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which together decimated the Gulf Coast region in 2005.It is a re-contextualization of images, news stories and political rhetoric that Gomez completed during a two-month emergency residency at the Santa Fe (N.M.) Art Institute after his home in New Orleans was destroyed.
Also a playwright and music journalist, Gomez, who now lives in Santa Fe, has taught English at the University of New Orleans, Tulane University, College of Santa Fe and the Institute of American Indian Arts.
The Montoya Poetry Prize, which is the first of its kind in the United States, recognizes a full-length manuscript by a Latino/a poet who has yet to publish a book.It honors the late Andr矇s Montoya, the author of the award-winning collectionThe Ice Worker Singsand the son of the renowned Chicano artist Malaquias Montoya, who was one of the first ILS fellows.
_ Contact: Kathryn Pitts, 91勛圖 Press, 574-631-3267,_ " pitts.5@nd.edu ":mailto:pitts.5@nd.edu
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