A Review of My Chapbook

My friend Katherine Hoerth, who is exploring and educating about the poetry chapbook (what, why, and how) on her blog, posted a review of my book Entre la claridad yesterday.  I am still feeling so excited about this!

If you have been wondering what someone besides me has to say about this collection of poems, here is the start of her review.

“In her second poetry chapbook, Elisa A. Garza explores timeless questions of identity: Who am I? Where do I come from? And where am I going? Through the lenses of gender, culture, language and landscape, Garza paints a portrait of what it means to be a woman, a Chicana, in this contested space. She does so with both candor and lyricism – and as a reader, I couldn’t help but be drawn into this world, both the familiar and the foreign.”  The “contested space” Katherine refers to is the South Texas borderlands, the setting for most of the poems in my book.

Read more of the review here.  If you are now convinced you have to read my poems (and I hope you are), you can buy my chapbook directly from Mouthfeel Press.

I am so grateful to Katherine for the publicity, and for the enthusiasm she has for my book.  Mil gracias, Katie!

Katherine is also a poet, and her new collection, The Garden, Uprooted is on the printing press right now at Slough Press.  

It will be available for purchase at Amazon very soon.  You can learn more about Katherine Hoerth and her books here.  I plan to post a review of her first chapbook, Among the Mariposas (also from Mouthfeel Press) in a few weeks.

If you live in the Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, or Houston, you can hear Katherine read her poetry in person (and buy her book) at one of the reading events scheduled in the next two weeks.  I will attend her reading on July 24^th, 7 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble in Webster (Houston area).  I hope to see you there!  

You can find the details of the other readings in the right sidebar of her blog.

Have you liked the Entre la claridad page on Facebook?  I post notices about writing, readings, publications, and literary events there, including things that I don’t have the chance to blog about.  Do go like the page if you are interested in those topics, or if you just like my book!

Holly at A Life-Size Catholic Blog hosts a monthly Pay It Forward Link Up, so I am connecting there in July also.  Her link up is a great forum for sharing the inspiration you have found on other blogs, and she highlights one of her favorite bloggers this month.  I hope you will go see what others are paying forward this month at the link below.

L.L. at Seedlings in Stone hosts the weekly On,In, and Around Monday Link up, “an invitation to write from where you are… [with] a sense of place.”  I hope this post qualifies!  Please go visit the collection.

Jennifer at Mommy Y hosts a weekly Mom–Me Link up, encouraging Mom bloggers to write for or about themselves (and not their children at least once a week).  I think this is a great idea, and I am so glad I finally have a post that qualifies.  Please go read about how she starts her day in solitude and visit the other bloggers’ entries!

Karri at My Life’s a Treasure hosts a weekly My Favorite Things Link up, so I am linking there (just gotta love publicity for my writing).  I hope you will go see other bloggers' favorite posts this week.

National Poetry Month

During this month long celebration of poetry, I am taking the opportunity to once again promote my latest book of poetry, Entre la claridad, published four months ago.  If you have been reading this blog since the fall, you have read about this book several times (indulge me, please), but some of you are more recent followers and may not have seen much about it.

Entre la claridad is a chapbook, or short book of poetry, written by me, mostly in English, with some Spanish phrases to more accurately reflect the dialog of South Texas.  The title can be translated as “Moving into Clarity.”  The first poem in the collection, “Border Sonnet” actually discusses the South Texas way of speaking, known as Spanglish, that is distinctive to the communities where my parents were raised.  Read an excerpt from this poem here.

National Poetry Month is the perfect time to acquaint yourself with poetry, and to support poets and poetry publishers by buying and reading a book, specifically my chapbook, of poetry.  If you already have a copy of Entre la claridad, please share your thoughts about the book with a friend or family member, or consider buying another as a gift.  For only $7.00, you can purchase a poetic reading experience for yourself or someone else!

If you would like to know more about the book, you can read several excerpts, as well as information about the book editing and publishing process at these posts.  You can also listen to radio broadcasts featuring these poems at the links on my Audio page.

As I mentioned earlier this month, you can buy Entre la claridad and my first chapbook, Familia, for a limited time at Brazos Bookstore in Houston.  Last week at the Local Poets Event, several copies of each book sold.  With your help, the store may decide to keep stocking my books.  Or, you can purchase directly from the publisher, Mouthfeel Press.  Maria, the press’s founder, editor, and publisher, reports that my book has been selling slowly, so I decided to write this post to speed up sales.  

Self promotion is not something I have ever been good at, so please excuse the awkwardness of this post.  However, in the electronic publishing age, self promotion is a necessary marketing strategy for physically published books, especially for poetry, the least read genre of literature.  After all, we must have a whole month dedicated to poetry on a national scale for a reason.  

Just for fun, you can read a tongue-in-cheek (sort of) critique of National Poetry Month by the poet Charles Bernstein here.  He asserts, among other claims, that National Poetry Month is meant to save poetry from extinction due to lack of interest among Americans, despite the clear connections between poetry and contemporary culture, such as popular music.  More awkwardness: Bernstein suggests that National Poetry Month activities actually hurt poetry more than they develop interest for it by championing “safe” and understandable poems over innovative and more aesthetic work.  Unfortunately, most people know more about National Poetry Month than they know about contemporary poetry or poets . . .

If the last statement applies to you, the easy solution for you is to read my book.  In addition to poems about my parents’ courtship and the unfortunate end to their marriage, you will find spiritual poems, others about Tex Mex culture, about a young woman (a younger me) searching for her vocation, and much more!  I promise that my poems are not obscure or overly difficult to understand; many of them are narrative, which means they tell a story, and the book as a whole tells its own story poem by poem.  

Even so, I don't think Bernstein would categorize them as "safe" (meaning unaesthetic or lacking craft).  I am interested in your opinion about my poems, my book, or poetry and it's national month efforts.  Is there an audience for literary poetry?  Leave your thoughts in the comments, or send me an e-mail.

Have you liked the Entre la claridad page on Facebook?  I post notices about writing, readings, publications, and literary events there, including things that I don’t have the chance to blog about.  Do go like the page if you are interested in those topics, or if you just like my book!

Convert Cascarones From Secular to Religious and Two Link Ups

As a child, one of my favorite Easter traditions was to make cascarones (decorated egg shells stuffed with confetti) for our large family Easter celebration.  For those of you unfamiliar with this tradition, on Easter Sunday, the adults would hide the cascarones we had made and then my brothers, my many cousins, and I would go search for them.  Next came the egg cracking free-for-all, where we would break our cascarones on each other’s heads, spilling confetti into our hair, onto our clothes, and over the ground.  Even the adults would get in on the action, sometimes saving cascarones on the side rather than hiding them so they would have some to break.

What does all this have to do with the Resurrection?  Aside from a suggestion that an unhatched egg symbolizes the new life that Jesus offers us through his death, the entire tradition is secular.  However, because we participated in the eggshell saving, painting, and stuffing as children, we knew that the eggs did not come from the Easter Bunny, as the story usually goes.

As a mother, I continue this tradition of making cascarones with my children because it is one of the many ways we practice our Tejano Mexicano (Tex Mex) culture with our family.  I wish that my children could have as many cousins as I did to share this experience with, but they enjoy it just as much regardless.

I do make sure that we decorate some of our cascarones with religious stickers and drawings, and I’m planning to include more drawings of resurrection symbols and to write resurrection messages this year.  This helps my children recall that Easter is a celebration because Jesus sacrificed himself for us.

The cascarones in the picture below were made commercially; my mother brought some over this past weekend.  When we decorate the ones we have been saving to paint, we’ll add some stickers to these.

Cascarones are easy to make, and there are several great tutorials already on the web.  Basically, you crack only a small hole in the top of eggs you plan to cook (the egg scrambles itself on the way out, so be patient).  

After washing the shells and letting them dry, they are ready to decorate with crayon resist.  Use a white crayon to draw symbols or designs, or write messages.  This is the step I refer to above, and you can also do this with boiled eggs that you plan to paint (after they have cooled off, of course).  We also like to write the names of family members on some of the shells, so we know whose head to break them on.

Use an egg painting kit to color the cascarones.  Get creative by dipping eggs half way into one color and then dipping the other side into another color.   Try this horizontally and vertically.  When they are dry, add stickers to some if you wish.  Fill with confetti (as much or little as you like), place glue around the edges of the hole and cover with tissue paper.  

I could not find good pictures of our cascarones from previous years, but will try to post some after we decorate this year.  You still have time to make your own cascarones, if you can manage to eat eggs several times in the next few days.  

It is time to announce two new link ups for the Liturgical Calendar Link up Party organized by Xhonané at Familia Cátolica.  The Easter Link up is hosted by Lázaro at Aprendiendoa Vivir en Cristiano.  The Liturgical Easter season lasts 50 days, so you will find many great ideas about celebrating at this link up in the weeks to come.  I will post later about some of the cards we have made to send our Easter greetings.

The Divine Mercy Sunday Link up is hosted by Maria at En la Vía Singular de la Vida.  Divine Mercy is the second Sunday of Easter, and I am thinking about a post based on this year’s gospel reading.  Check back!

Since we always paint our cascarones during Holy Week, I have attached this post to the Holy Week Link up hosted by Monica at Equipping Catholic Families.  I’m also attaching this to the Easter Link up hosted by Lázaro at Aprendiendoa Vivir en Cristiano (see the button above).  Please go visit to see what other bloggers are sharing, or to attach your own post. 

These link ups are part of the Liturgical CalendarLink up Party organized by Xhonané at Familia Católica.

I have also added this post to the Catholic Bloggers Round Up at the new CatholicBloggers Network.  

Amanda at Impress Your Kids is hosting a Meaningful Easter Link up, where I have also attached my post.  There, you can read her post and many others about how to focus on the Lamb and not the bunny.

And, I am connecting with the First Friday Link upfor April hosted by Lacy at Catholic Icing.  You will find lots of ideas for celebrating the Easter season at this link up.

One more: Martianne at TrainingHappy Hearts hosts a weekly Faith Formation in Young Children Link up, so I have connected there also.

Beans: Super Nutrition for a Low Price

Several months ago, in my post about weekly meal planning, I promised to write more about the nutritional benefits of beans, and to include some detailed recipes.  I appreciate your patience these last few months while I have been busy teaching, promoting my new book, and writing about my faith during some important liturgical seasons: Advent and Christmas.

So, beans are some of the most nutrient dense foods per calorie.  They are high in protein, calcium, folate, and fiber.  The beans with the most color, especially pinto, black, kidney, and lentils, also have the most anti-oxidants.  A diet high in beans can help prevent cancer (especially of the breast, prostate, and colon), constipation, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.  All those nutrients and the fiber, along with the fact that beans absorb water, make you feel full, so they can help you with weight loss, too.

To combat the gas that many people experience after eating beans, soak them before cooking (directions below), skim off the foam that rises to the top of the water while cooking, and eat beans slowly, chewing them well.  If you are eating canned beans, this last one is your only option.  Make sure you rinse canned beans to remove excess salt.

Beans are the only plant protein that contains the amino acid lysine, so they make a great complement to other plant proteins and wonderful vegetarian meals.  Also, beans contain calcium, which is lost during protein digestion, so they can prevent calcium deficiency.  More calcium is lost digesting animal proteins than plant proteins, so eating more vegetarian meals based around beans can help maintain calcium in the body.

In addition, beans are inexpensive, compared to meat and seafood.  Meals centered on beans can save you money, and cooking a large pot of beans gives you the flexibility to create several meals at low cost.

Still not convinced?  Basing meals around beans makes meal preparation and planning easier.  What could be better than that, especially when your schedule is full with so many tasks?

If you are not in the habit of basing your meals around beans, I urge you to try it.  My family loves eating beans at any meal and as a snack.  My children ask me to cook beans and prepare tostadas, a traditional Tex Mex meal, regularly.  They even like reading books about beans!  We especially like Sopa de frijoles/Bean Soup by Jorge Argueta, which is actually a poem about cooking beans for your family.  The recipe in the book is nearly the same as what I will outline below, and it is a fun read.  Plus, the book is a poem!

HOW TO PRE-SOAK BEANS

Start with dried beans that are not too old.  How can you tell?  Beans sold in bags that have powder inside the bag have been stored too long.  Some brands print a “packaged on” date on the bag, so look for the most recent one.  If you buy your beans in bulk from bins, get them from a store that has a high turnover for their bean bins.

Sort your beans before you rinse them, removing those that have been cut, broken, bitten, or discolored.  Take out any pebbles or round balls of dirt, too.  I usually fill my two cup measuring cup to the brim, which gives us enough cooked beans for at least three meals.  After rinsing, place the beans in water to cover.  You can leave them to soak at room temperature overnight and/or all day before cooking, or bring them to a boil for about ten minutes and then turn them off to soak for at least three or four hours.  You can combine these soaking methods if needed, and be sure to add more water if it gets soaked up or boils off.  Here is what pinto beans look like after soaking, first in the water, and then after they have been rinsed.

HOW TO COOK BEANS

Place the soaked beans in fresh water, add salt to taste, and bring to boil.  Skim off the foam that rises to the top and reduce heat.  Cook for 1 ½ - 2 hours, depending on how long the beans have been stored and how long they were soaked. Add more water if needed.

HOW TO EAT BEANS

You can add additional seasonings to your beans during or after cooking, but they will taste wonderful just as they are.  We always eat them hot, in bowls with toppings, or on a plate with fresh bread or tortillas the first night.  We usually have the makings for toppings on hand: chopped tomatoes, chopped avocadoes, chopped onions, salsa, Mexican crema (or sour cream), cilantro, or shredded cheese.  Try any or all of these for a satisfying and nutritious meal.

HOW TO REFRY BEANS

Use the beans that are left to make tostadas another night.  Place beans in a sauté pan with a little oil.  Smash with your potato smasher, or whirl them in the blender before placing them in the pan.  Once they are warmed, spread them on flat tostadas (crispy baked corn tortillas) and top with any or all of the following: lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, shredded cheese, salsa, crema.  Sometimes, we even make faces on the tostada, just for fun.

I have cooked pinto, black, and red beans, as well as black eyed peas, using this method, and have refried both pinto and black beans.  Lentils and black eyed peas do not need soaking, but will cook just fine after soaking if you want to prepare them this way.  You can find my suggestions for using leftover cooked and refried beans here.  I’ll write more posts with bean recipes in the future, I promise.

Reminder: I’m giving away a copy of my new book, Entre la claridad this week.  See my last post for details on how to enter the drawing.  FYI: If you are reading this post after January 2012, this giveaway has already happened.

Sources:

Disease-Proof Your Child  by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

Super Foods Rx by Steven Pratt, M.D.

The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

In 2013 I am linking with: Better Mom Monday, Motivational Monday

In 2012 I linked with: Lenten Meal Plan Monday, Hispanic Heritage Month Blog Hop Fiesta, The Ultimate Recipe Swap, Food on Fridays, Try a New Recipe Tuesday, Healthy 2day Wednesday, Your Green Resource.