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My Sweet Unconditional by Ariel Robello | Poetry Book
National Book Release Saturday June 4th @ 7:30 p.m.
Tia Chucha's Cafe
12737 Glenoaks Blvd., #22
Sylmar, CA 91342
(818) 362-7060 | www.tiachucha.com
Also Friday June 10th @ 7 p.m.
Beyond Baroque
681 Venice Blvd. Venice, CA
310.822.3006
And Saturday June 18th @ 8p.m.
Imix Books
5052 Eagle Rock Blvd. LA, CA
323.257.2512
On My Sweet...
In her debut collection of poems, My Sweet Unconditional, ariel robello meets us at the horizon, where worlds blend in the blush of sunrise and sunset, where land meets sea, air � earth, and where man and machine interrupt the natural ebb and flow of life. Unapologetic, she declares her faith in a love that defies borders and with each poem she weds herself to a belief that unconditional love can still be found in the cracks of a urban sidewalk, dancing above puffing smoke stacks, behind a guerrilla�s mask, in the worn paint brush of an island love, blundering below a street lamp in Ensenada, spelled out in daisies on a Veteran�s tombstone, in the stitch of a huipil and most importantly�deep inside one�s own reflection. With language as radiant and dangerous as broken glass ariel robello cuts away at the political dogma and superficial beauty of a world unhinged to reveal a bloody but dignified glimpse of love in the hands of a New World survivor.
Having earned her chops on both the stage and the page, ariel robello represents a generation who are as concerned with performance as they are with line breaks. ariel robello received a PEN West Rosenthal Emerging Voices Fellowship in 2002 and is currently working on her M.F.A. She has taught poetry in Los Angeles Public High Schools, ran workshops for women and English to adults in the garment district.
"Effortlessly, swimmingly, yet every line a �florescent ember�, seething and praying, these poems mark the debut of a powerful woman of letters; young yet wise, weary yet hopeful. ariel robello is the revolution in verse we�ve been waiting for � the spoken unspoken, the dreaded effervescence of truth conspiring with our souls. Chicana voices have always pushed deeper into the emotional terrain of conscience and witness, �My Sweet Unconditional� does what poetry collections should always do � pull us into a universe so familiar yet frighteningly unknown with poems that awaken us to the political and personal traumas of our times, yet sweetened by the beauty of word and verse."
--Luis J. Rodriguez is an award-winning poet, journalist, memoirist, children�s book writer, essayist and fiction writer. He is author of the critically acclaimed "Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A."
"Ariel Robello's My Sweet Unconditional is never insincere or sentimental. This first collection of point-blank narratives of the heart never misses. Playful and reasoned, witty and serious, My Sweet Unconditional's insinuation beckons and disarms. Ariel Robello's voice is one of a kind."
--Yusef Komunyakaa, Pulitzer-prize winning poet.
"Poetry Lover, beware the fire-and-ice urban joys of Ariel Robello! These are brutally savvy and deliciously vicious paeans to life, relentless in their celebrations of love, sacrifice and sex--and once beheld by the eyeheart, humbles rescues redeems."
--Wanda Coleman, poet, Los Angeles
"Ms. Robello has what writers call "The Gift". That organic facility with language and line construction that cannot be taught in the classroom. When The Gift is coupled with literary training, magic seems to find its way to the page."
--Micheal Datcher is a poet and critically acclaimed journalist who has written for The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and The Baltimore Sun, and has appeared as a guest analyst on numerous television and radio shows, including Nightline and Dateline. He lives in Los Angeles where he is the director of literary programs at the World Stage Writer�s Workshop and is the author of "Raising Fences."
"Ariel Robello has crafted remarkable poems that demand no less than a pure appreciation of art from you, even as they break your heart. There is nothing easy here: the music is grafted from a painful if illuminating life, but they shimmer with a rage that is transformative. A voice to watch for."
--Chris Abani, author of GraceLand and Dog Woman.
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