Cynthia Gallaher

Emergency Tacos is a collection of poetry from the Hispanic community in Chicago. Included are Beatriz Badikan, Sandra Cisneros, Carlos Cortez, Carlos Cumpian and several others. This collection details the Latin-American experience with poems about topics as divergent as cultural identity and mundane everyday struggles.

Chicagoan Carlos Cortez is one of the U.S.A.'s leading Chicano artists and poets. In this new collection of poems and scratch board drawings, Cortez shares his love and concern for the land of his mestizo and Yaqui ancestors. Cortez's art and words help us see with "bicultural eyes" the history of California (Califas) with a landscape alive with condors, cougars, tall saquaros, and even giant cloud formations. Cortez's poems speak in the persona of Koyokuikatl (Coyote Song), who places his strong clear verse in defense of its threatened inhabitants, In addition, he embodies the nostalgic traveler who is capable of "Beat" haikus or the wisdom of the Chicano working-class.

<p>&quot;Sometimes a disquieting idea, for at its core, an alternative signals difference: a state some may dustrust, others tolerate, still others, embrace. Fortunately, divergent views remain energetically alive, experience brings hope, exhilerating no matter what the outcome. In this anthology on less traditional and predictable lifepaths, the intensity, humor and spirit of these writing actually transcends differences, evidence of the strength found in exploring less travelled roads.&quot;</p><p>Contributors, cont'd: Mary Damon Peltier, Shirley Powers, Rita Reinert, Ellen Rosen, P. Kelly Rugg, Amy Sanderson, Patti See, Claudia Rosa Silva, Carol Smith, Grazina Smith, Sandra Tatara </p>