La Poesía de Xánath Caraza

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Xánath Caraza 

by Amelia M.L. Montes (ameliamontes.com)
XánathCaraza weaves Mexica Indigena/Spanish, African, and North American Midwestroots throughout her poetry.  Sheis from Veracruz and from Kansas City, Missouri. Currently, she teaches at theUniversity of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC).  Xánath recognizes the important African influence within ourMexican/Chicana/Chicano cultura and she celebrates it with much passion in herwork.  Xánath is also not new to LaBloga.  In December of 2009, shewas a guest columnist for La Bloga, giving us information about her Kansas CityWriter’s Collective.  The group had(altogether!) given a reading in Chicago and she recounted the trip.  CLICK HERE for the link. 
Threeyears later, La Bloga returns to Xánath in celebration of her two-book tour. 
Twoweeks ago, she read her poetry at The University of Iowa for the “Latinos in the Midwest Obermann International Programs Humanities Symposium” and just lastnight she was in New York giving a reading as well.  I feel very fortunate to have met and heard Xánath inIowa.  Her words match her voice inpower and lyricism.  She fills a room with melodic phrasings and detailed images of the landscape. 
Xanáthhas recently published a poetry chapbook and a poetry book just months apartand both are receiving much notice for the mix of languages (Spanish, Nahuatl,and English), and the seamless transitions from, for example, Chicontepec landsto Midwest Prairies. 
Thetwo books are:

Chapbook:  Corazón Pintado Publishedby TL Press, 2012.  Kansas City,Missouri

Fulllength poetry book:  Conjuro Publishedby Mammoth Publications, 2012. Lawrence, Kansas
Oneof my favorite poets, Maria Melendez (author of How Long She’ll Last in This World) writes:  “Caraza’s voice isthe pulse of the powerful, mythic earth. Landscape and dreamscape fuse in this rhythmic poetry, as the imagesCaraza paints and repaints for us—mountains, shells, twisters, deserts—go on‘rocking the imagination’ through time, history, memory, and that wildestfrontier:  the heart.”
Andindeed, Xánath’s poetry moves in all the ways Melendez describes.  Inher poem, “Yanga,” Xánath sings the words which recount the slaves who arrivedin Veracruz and escaped, forming a community that continues to thrive today. 
Excerptfrom Conjuro:
En1570Llegasteal Puerto de Veracruz,Encadenadocomo muchos,Escapastede la esclavitud.
Palenque,rumba, sambaYanga,Yanga, YangaEspírituindomable,Noblehombre de �frica.****************************In1570Youarrived at the Port of VeracruzInchains as manyYouescaped slavery
Palenque,rumba, sambaYanga,Yanga, YangaUnconquerablespiritNobleman from Africa
Thefollowing is from an interview with the Letras Latinas Blog this past July (2012).  CLICK HERE for the link.  I chose thisparticular section because it best reveals Xánath’s beginnings in Veracruz, herChicontepec raices (roots). 
Of“Conjuro” Rigoberto González says: "A decisively Amerindian song breathesthrough the pages of Xánath Caraza's Conjuro, a charitable book of invocation,incantation, lamentation and healing.” Your chapbook “Corazón Pintado” too,despite being a collection of ekphrastic poems, draws from what may bedescribed as the oral/poetic traditions of indigenous roots. Can you speak toyour particular affinity for the oral and indigenous traditions?
Xánath: It mainly comes from my mother’s side.  She’s from an indigenous communityin the northern part of Veracruz y quieras o no, se aprenden cosas nada más dever. My mother grew up bilingually up until she was eight years old, Nahuatland Spanish.  My tía, my mother’s sister-in-law who is also from the sameHuastec group, came to live with us in Xalapa, Veracruz from the time I was ababy.  This was after she lost her husband, my mother’s brother. Between my mother, my tía and my cousins I learnt behaviors that were naturalto me, but once I was outside my home I started noticing they were slightlydifferent from other children. The way my tía speaks Spanish is veryparticular.  She almost sings the rhythm of the way she produces theSpanish language which is similar to the rhythm of the Nahuatl language shegrew up with. We shared a house with my cousins and when they were at home theyused to have the same kind of rhythm.  I noticed later that their rhythmswere different when, in Spanish, they talked to people different from myimmediate family.  Then, there are all the several times I visited mygrandmother’s house in Ahuateno, Chicontepec, Veracruz. 

Chicontepec

I remember I knewmy grandmother spoke “funny” Spanish.  When we, my mother and I, went tovisit Nila, my grandmother, many people came to say hello, mostly women. Theyarrived at my grandmother’s house and sat in the kitchen and talked, halfSpanish mainly because of me, and mostly Nahuatl, but the sounds they producedwhen talking were so different from what I was used to.  They were greensounds, from the open spaces of my grandmother’s indigenous community.  Ialso remember that everything was lit with quinqués or lanterns. The picture Ihave in my mind is of their twinkling shadows on the walls, and people’s facesappearing distorted from the red flames of the quinqués and then disappearingwhile I was trying to follow their almost incomprehensible conversations. I don’t remember what they were talking about, but the sounds, rhythms and thefact that they visited for hours really impressed me.Onthe other hand, as I mentioned before, I was introduced to Netzahualcoyotl,Macuilxochitzin, and other Nahuatl poet’s early in life.  That was becauseof my father.  I think that he was trying to introduce me to my mother’srich heritage, and he was successful.  Later at college I read them again,Miguel León Portilla, and many of his books about Nahuatl language and culture.
Therewas a moment in my life, when I was living in Vermont, when I was readingNetzahualcoyotl’s biography by José Luis Martinez and suddenly I started cryingbecause I realized I did not speak Nahuatl; instead, I grew up speakingSpanish. To my good fortune, I have my mother and her side of the family. However,the realization of growing up without Nahuatl was truly shocking, especiallysince I’ve taught languages for many years.
What’smore, I love music and dancing. This comes both from my mother and father’sside.  My father loves dancing as well as music; my mother does too. Itwas natural for me to see people dancing and singing growing up.  I thinkthis is reflected in my writing.  Singing is another way of sharingstories. (end of interview answer) 
Inher chapbook, Corazón Pintado, Xánath’s last poem entitled “Storm” takes the reader north to theMidwest plains:
Excerpt:  Tormentade quimerasArrasadaspor el indomable vientoPorel torbellino de humedad violentaA lacima de la montaña roja llevas vidaFecundarlas semillas guardadas es tu destino,Aguadel cielo de quetzal*********************************************Stormof chimerasSweptby the uncontrollable windBythe twister of violent humidityTothe top of the red mountain you bring lifeGerminatingthe kept seeds is your destinyWaterfrom the quetzal’s sky
Xánath's commitment to bilingual poetry books mirrors her connection to Veracruz (theAfrican and Indigena influences) and the North American Great Plains(landscapes especially).  To bringthese three entities together is so important because it reveals a much morecomplex Mexico and North America. In another interview from last year (2011--CLICK HERE for full interview), Xánath talks about the“great American journey” by saying, “When I hear ‘great American journey’ thefirst thing that comes to my mind are a series of images of different places inthe U.S.  However, I also thinkabout the thousands of immigrants that come to this country, the hardships oftheir journey before arriving here. I think about César Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Martin Luther King, RosaParks, Cornel West, Chief Seattle, Angela Davis, among other greatAmericans.  For me, the ‘greatAmerican journey’ is carved on my skin, on my name.” 
Graciasfor your work Xánath Caraza!  I’mhoping those who read this La Bloga piece will be ordering your books, sharingthem with others soon if they haven’t already. 
Abrazosto you all y felicidades to Xánath Caraza!  

Xánath Caraza y Amelia M.L. Montes at The University of Iowa