In Bordering Fires, the first anthology to combine writing from both sides of the Mexican-U.S. border, Cristina Garc’a presents a richly diverse cross-cultural conversation. Beginning with Mexican masters such as Alfonso Reyes and Juan Rulfo, Garc’a highlights historic voices such as “the godfather of Chicano literature” Rudolfo Anaya, and Gloria Anzaldœa, who made a powerful case for language that reflects bicultural experience. From the fierce evocations of Chicano reality in Jimmy Santiago Baca’s Poem IX to the breathtaking images of identity in Coral Bracho’s poem “Fish of Fleeting Skin,” from the work of Carlos Fuentes to Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo to Octavio Paz, this landmark collection of fiction, essays, and poetry offers an exhilarating new vantage point on our continent–and on the best of contemporary literature.ContentsPrelude: Excerpt from The use of thought / Samuel Ramos Early influences:Major Aranda's hand / Alfonso Reyes My cousin Agueda, and In the wet shadows / Ramón López Velarde Excerpt from Pedro Páramo / Juan Rulfo L.A. nocturne : the angels / Xavier Villaurrutia Chicano/a voices I: How to tame a wild tongue / Gloria AnzaldúaIndia / Richard RodriguezMeditations on the South Valley: Poem IX / Jimmy Santiago Baca B. Traven is alive and well in Cuernavaca / Rudolfo Anaya Contemporary Mexican voices:Excerpt from The death of Artemio Cruz / Carlos Fuentes Introduction from Here's to you, Jesusa! / Elena Poniatowska The day of the dead, and I speak of the city / Octavio Paz Excerpt from The book of lamentations / Rosario Castellanos Chicano/a voices 2: Daddy with Chesterfields in a rolled up sleeve / Ana Castillo Never marry a Mexican / Sandra Cisneros Maria de Covina / Dagoberto Gilb Excerpt from Crossing over : a Mexican family on the migrant trail / Rubén Martínez New departures:Hagiography of the apostate / Ignacio PadillaAunt Leonor, and Aunt Natalia / Ángeles MastrettaIdentity hour or, What photos would you take of the endless city / Carlos Monsiváis Fish of fleeting skin / Coral Bracho

    Alternating between grand, Whitmanic tone and scope, Dickinsonian minute detail, Beat rhythms, New York School wit and Objectivist sensibility, this epic poem engages traditional lyricism with a breathtaking contemporary style and graceful urgency.A native of California, Eleni Sikelianos has lived in New York City, Paris and Athens. She is the author of the poetry collection, Earliest Worlds, the memoir, Book of Jon (forthcoming from City Lights), and the National Poetry Series award-winning collection The Monster Lives of Boys and Girls.