Singing at the Gates ─ Selected Poems

"A poet whose voice, brutal and tender, is unique in America." ?The Nation

Award-winning writer Jimmy Santiago Baca is lauded for his skill in weaving personal and political threads to create a pertinent and poignant narrative. He addresses crucial, universal issues with grace and clarity, paired with intense emotional insight and vivid sensory detail, establishing him as a vital voice in American?and world?poetry.

Singing At The Gates is a collection of Baca's work that spans over four decades?poems that revitalize the national dialogue; raging against war and imprisonment, celebrating family and the bonds of friendship, heightening appreciation for and consciousness of the environment. A career-spanning selection these pieces include poems drawn from Baca's first chapbook, letters written during his work with prisoners in Chino State penitentiary, and later work meditating on the significance of freedom from oppression. This collection displays the breadth and depth of Baca's poetic power?with irreverent charm and disarming freedom of mind and soul. The vital pulse of love abiding in these poems will affirm and reaffirm, for both longtime and newfound readers, his devotion to truth and beauty.

Jimmy Santiago Baca has written a novel, a short story collection, fifteen books of poetry, a book of essays, and a teacher/student book set. His memoir, A Place To Stand, won The International Prize. He wrote the feature film Blood In/Blood Out (Touchstone Pictures, 1993), a number of other screenplays, and he wrote/produced three documentaries. He currently lives in Northern New Mexico, on a farm with his family, and he continues to work worldwide teaching literacy.