DONDE LA LUZ ES VIOLETA / WHERE THE LIGHT IS VIOLET by Xánath Caraza,    Nov. 15, 2016  Translated by Sandra Kingery, intro. by Beppe Costa, 208 pages, perfectbound, $18 ISBN: 978-1-939301-69-7 For inquiries and multiple orders: mammothpubs[at] gmail.com. For immediate online discount $14.50 PayPal Click here

International author Xánath Caraza’s latest book is a moving prayer, in Spanish and English, to water, at a time when this essential of life is most precious. Now a native of Kansas City, Caraza draws upon Nahuatl (Aztec), Spanish and English traditions in this accessible and lush verse diary. Each poem is a sequence in her journey to Italy, where she finds water ever present in seas, rivers, Venice canals, and rainstorms. This is a beautiful book.

INTERVIEW WITH XANATH CARAZA by Arya-Francesca Jenkins on the WritersNReadersII website, Friday, August 18, 2017

hdept at creating an emergent and radiating enchantment which encompasses the transition of all things.  She is tender, furious, lubricating and fiery, desirous and thanatic, feverish and defenseless.  This is what intersects this book.  It is as if Xánath Caraza had allowed an ocean current to permeate her, which was adept at not only possessing her and to project her voice, but also allowing this current to transform itself into ink.” ~Minerva Margarita Villarreal, Premio Nacional Bellas Artes de Poesía Aguascalientes

“Donde la luz es violeta/ Where the Light is Violet, the title of Xánath’s new poetry collection declares a quality of light that has infused an experience. It is the colour we might perceive in a ‘scarlet sunrise’ that ‘incinerates the past’ or that marks the last diffuse light of a sunset. The same colour that Virgil, in the Aeneid, saw in the water of the Mediterranean Sea. The light at the beginning and end of the day converge to unveil a different chord in Xánath’s poetic voice, a new more personal way to look at the world through some of the places she visited during a journey in Italy.” ~Anna Lombardo, Director of The International Poetry Festival, Venice

“Part diary, part poeticized travel journal, Caraza’s, Where the Light is Violet is nothing if not a paean to Venice, Murano Island, and likewise to Rome, Pompeii, Florence, et al.  The poet is ever swept away by all complexities of natural splendor (waterways, flora, and fauna), under a colorful vaulting sky, an exuberance conveyed in sensual verse, and chromatic flourishes, Greco-Roman mythology serving, at times, as backdrop.” ~Tino Villanueva, 1994 American Book Award recipient

Xánath Caraza teaches at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and presents readings and workshops in Europe, Latin America, and the U.S.  She is the Writer-in-Residence at Westchester Community College, New York. Caraza is the recipient of the 2014 Beca Nebrija para Creadores, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares in Spain.  She writes for La Bloga, Periódico de Poesía, Revista Literaria Monolito, The Smithsonian Latino Center, and Revista Zona de Ocio.  Her book of poetry Syllables of Wind / Sílabas de viento received the 2015 International Book Award for Poetry.  It also received Honorable Mention for best book of Poetry in Spanish in the 2015 International Latino Book Awards.  Her books of verse Ocelocíhuatl, Conjuro and her book of short fiction What the Tide Brings / Lo que trae la marea have won national and international recognition.  Her other books of poetry are Tinta negra: Black Ink, Noche de colibríes, Corazón pintado, and her second short story collection, Pulsación, is in progress. She was named number one of the 2013 Top Ten “New” Latino Authors to Watch (and Read) by LatinoStories.com. For the José Martí Publishing Awards, The National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP), she has been a judge since 2013.  Caraza curates NaPoMo (National Poetry Month) for Con Tinta Literary Association since 2012.