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New Mexico cultural envoy Juan Estevan Arellano, to whom this work
is dedicated, writes that querencia "is that which gives us a sense
of place, that which anchors us to the land, that which makes us a
unique people, for it implies a deeply rooted knowledge of place,
and for that reason we respect it as our home." This sentiment is
echoed in the foreword by Rudolfo Anaya, in which he writes that
"querencia is love of home, love of place." This collection of both
deeply personal reflections and carefully researched studies
explores the New Mexico homeland through the experiences and
perspectives of Chicanx and indigenous/Genizaro writers and
scholars from across the state. The importance of querencia for
each contributor is apparent in their work and their ongoing
studies, which have roots in the culture, history, literature, and
popular media of New Mexico. Be inspired and enlightened by these
essays and discover the history and belonging that is querencia.
Un lugar sagrado, a sacred place where two or more are gathered
in the name of community, can be found almost anywhere and yet it
is elusive: a charro arena behind a rock quarry, on the pilgrimage
trail to Chimayo, a curandero's shrine in South Texas, or at a
binational Mass along the border. Sagrado is neither a search for
identity nor a quest for a homeland but an affirmation of an
ever-evolving cultural landscape. Embedded at the heart of this
remarkable book, in which prose, photographs, and poems complement
each other, is a photopoetic journey across the Chicano
Southwest.
"Levi Romero is a strange kind of wizard. He can walk up a New
Mexico arroyo and come back with a mysterious object full of
quotidian magic. Like a rusted tobacco can the grand-fathers used
to roll their smokes. And when you pry open the lid, you can hear
their laughter and gossip coming out. That's what he does in poem
after poem. I read his work and I learn again how to love this
life."--Luis Alberto Urrea
Through familiar details--leaking faucets and lowriders,
"chicharrones" and chicken coops--Levi Romero remembers "familia,
comunidad, " and "tradiciones" from his upbringing in northern New
Mexico's Embudo Valley. Alongside his training and jobs in the
building trades and the architectural profession, and now a
teacher, his writing has maintained and nurtured his connection to
the unique people and land he knows so well and that have seldom
been represented in American poetry.
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