In August, the first in the series of poems will be Juanita Espino and To the South by ire’ne lara silva (TX). ire’ne lara silva is the author of three poetry collections — furia (Mouthfeel Press, 2010), Blood Sugar Canto (Saddle Road Press, 2016), and CUICACALLI/House of Song (Saddle Road Press, 2019); an e‑chapbook Enduring Azucares (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2015); as well as a short story collection flesh to bone (Aunt Lute Books, 2013) which won the Premio Aztlán Literary Prize (a national literary award for emerging Chicana and Chicano authors). She and poet Dan Vera are also the co-editors of Imaniman: Poets Writing in the Anzaldúan Borderlands, (Aunt Lute Books, 2017), a collection of poetry and essays. silva is the recipient of a 2017 National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures (NALAC) Fund for the Arts Grant, the final recipient of the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Award, and the Fiction Finalist for A Room of Her Own Foundation’s 2013 Gift of Freedom Award. silva is currently working on her first novel Naci and a second collection of short stories titled, the light of your body. Her website is irenelarasilva.wordpress.com

My Indigenous and Mexican American ancestry is crucial to my artistic approach in addressing illnesses of body, society, and spirit through Story. — ire ’ne lara silva