Publisher Description

Adrian Castro's poetry encompasses the diversity, spirituality, and migratory history of the Caribbean through an intoxicating blend of contemporary lyricism, Spanish rhythm, and the African traditions of Yoruba Ifa divination poetry. In Handling Destiny, Castro offers appeals for all humanity, including the youngest generation, for whom he prays, "that you fly forward while / looking back . . . That you understand the songs you will sing / And you remember the language you once spoke."A Cuban Dominican poet and Ifa priest from Miami, Adrian Castro is the author of Cantos to Blood and Honey, an Academy of American Poets award-winning collection, and Wise Fish, a New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice selection.

Author Biography

Adrian Castro, a Cuban-Dominican poet and Ifa priest from Miami, writes as if "Chano Pozo were hitting the keys of a typewriter instead of the skin of a drum" (Victor Hernández Cruz). He is the author of Cantos to Blood and Honey and Wise Fish: Tales in 6/8 Time, a New York Times Editor's Choice selection.

Promotional

1. Finished books will be available for review copy mailings in May and available at Book Expo America. 2. Additional marketing will include consumer advertising in a number of poetry journals, conference display, and academic direct mail marketing. 3. Publicity efforts will focus on poetry media, Caribbean and African American interest publications, and spirituality and lifestyle magazines.

Description for Sales People

This book will be the third in the series (including Cantos to Blood & Honey and Wise Fish) that traces the diasporic triangle of Africa, the Caribbean, and contemporary North America, the migratory experience (forced or otherwise), and the eventual clash of cultures and spirituality. The poems in Handling Destiny address the myths and tragedies of the past, and their legacy on subsequent generations, from a cultural and historical perspective, while encompassing the traditions of contemporary North American poetics and West African Yoruba Ifa divination poetry. An outstanding performer, the author is well-known in Miami (where he has performed multiple times at Books & Books and the Miami Book Festival) and in New York (where he has read many times at the Nuyorican Poets Caf). He also read recently with Virgil Suarez at the Folger Shakespeare Library and his national profile is growing--with reviews for his most recent collection appearing in the New York Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Miami Herald, Black Issues Book Review, and numerous literary journals.

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