Spit Temple: The Selected Performances of Cecilia Vicuna - Softcover

Poetry/Performance. Latino/Latina Studies. Art. Edited by Rosa Alcalá. SPIT TEMPLE collects texts and transcriptions of Vicuña's uncategorizable improvised performances, which combine singing, movement, chants, and stories. Also included are a critical introduction by Rosa Alcalá, a poetic memoir by Vicuña (translated by Alcalá) addressing her life in performance, and a series of response pieces from contemporary writers including Juliana Spahr, Rodrigo Toscano, and Maria Damon.

"Vicuña's work, at its very essense, is 'a way of remembering'—as if exile and recall joined to unravel an 'autobiography in debris;' as one personal story within a larger narative."—Roberto Tejada

Cecilia Vicuna is a Chilean poet, artist and filmmaker. The author of twenty poetry books published in Europe, Latin America and the U.S., she performs and exhibits her work widely. A precursor of conceptual, impermanent art and the improvisatory oral performance, her work deals with the interactions between language, earth and textiles. Her recent books are SPIT TEMPLE: THE SELECTED PERFORMANCES OF CECILIA VICUNA (Ugly Duckling Presse, 2012), Chanccani Quipu, a new artist book forthcoming by Granary Books, and SABORAMI (ChainLinks, 2011). She co-edited The Oxford Book of Latin American Poetry (2009). Since 1980 she divides her time between Chile and New York.