“In this collection, Alarcón provides his readers a truly ambitious, multifaceted, and polyphonic deep song, as sustained and distinguished as the oeuvre of this singular poet himself.”—Gary Keller, founder and editor of The Bilingual Review / La Revista Bilingüe
“In Canto hondo / Deep Song, a new bilingual collection, poems draw matter from the Earth itself to address love and lust in a gorgeous and frank canto inspired by Federico García Lorca’s own Canto Hondo. ‘Now you turn out to be a continent where I can spend my whole life and never really finish exploring you,’ writes Francisco X. Alarcón, an observation that augurs the experience of reading this important new collection by one of our most significant Chicano poets.”—Carmen Giménez Smith, author of Milk and Filth
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“A vibrant, moving, erotic, and highly charged sequence of poems.”—Ray Gonzalez, author of Soul Over Lightning
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"Over the span of his career in letters, Francisco X. Alarcón has regaled us with his celebratory, joyful verse borne out of his love and respect for nature, community, culture, and the every day moments in life worth singing about. With Canto Hondo/ Deep Song, he reminds us that when the heart aches, it too carries an impressive tune—urgent, far-reaching and devastatingly true."—Rigoberto González, author of Red-Inked Retablos
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"A brilliant minimalist, Francisco X. Alarcón writes poems carved out of sky and earth. His images come elemental. His words nourish ours. The linguistic and emotional pleasures in Canto Hondo/ Deep Song accumulate beautifully, deftly. Before we know it, sparks turn into stars, and 'suddenly/ on the tip/ of our tongues/--a galaxy!' "—Eduardo Corral, author of Slow Lightning
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“Alarcón’s new book evokes and celebrates the deep song of the Chicana/o literature, from its Pre-Cortesian roots to its politically fraught present.”—The Volta Blog
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