The Small Claim of Bones - Softcover

Latina poet Cindy Williams Gutiérrez describes a mosaic of worlds—Tenochtitlan, New Spain, and the Mexican diaspora—and takes us on a journey that explores her complex multicultural identity. A literary bridge that spans 600 years of history, these poems reflect two pivotal eras in Mexico's past through the voices of real and imagined historical figures that in turn elicit responses from the poet's contemporary voice. Three series of poems include imagined fifteenth-century Nahua “songs,” irreverent sonnets and décimas in the style of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and the intimate, contemporary voice of Williams Gutiérrez as she pays tribute to all that she holds dear in Mexico's diverse cultural tapestry. Through its distinctive call-and-response approach, this unique collection extends the literary dialogue of the Americas vital to US Hispanic literature, earning the poet a place in the company of the most esteemed Latina feminist writers.

Cindy Williams Gutiérrez's poems and reviews have been published in Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Harvard's Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, UNAM's Periódico de Poesía, Portland Review, Rain Taxi, and many other publications. She has performed her Aztec-inspired poetry accompanied by pre-Hispanic music at the AWP conference and at colleges and museums through Humanities Washington.