Author Description

Traditionally, a bestiary is a collection of fables about actual or mythological animals. In this collection, however, Lourdes Vázquez has crafted a bestiary of a different sort with a compilation of sensuous poetry in which insects, animals, and strangers reflect her experience as a "Caribbean in exile." The poems resound with humor and grief, turn catastrophe into renewal, and playfully explore what happens in a world where the relationship between humans and beasts is still intact. At times edgy, this poetry is never cold. It is instead vibrantly alive, flowing in a confluence of desire and anger, passion and cool appraisal.