Curandera

Featuring historic photos of the Chicano Movement in San Antonio, this is the 30th-anniversary edition of Carmen Tafolla's poetry collection. Having filled a cultural and linguistic void in 1983, when it was first published, this compilation not only blends the natural Spanish and English code-switching of the San Antonio barriocreating its own literary languagebut also gives a voice to the voiceless. Banned in Arizona along with many other multicultural books, this work compares the violence and racism of the poet's middle school years to the cultural ignorance she encountered in rich private schools.

Carmen Tafolla is a professor at the University of Texas–San Antonio and the author of more than 15 books, including The Holy Tortilla and a Pot of Beans and What Can You Do with a Paleta? She is the recipient of various awards, including the 2010 Américas Award, two International Latino Book Awards, and the Tomás Rivera Mexican-American Book Award. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.