Lotería Cards and Fortune Poems: A Book of Lives

Congratulations to Juan Felipe Herrera, who was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate for 2015-2016, the first Latino poet to receive this honor!

Lotería Cards and Fortune Poems pairs the masterful artwork of Mexican artist Artemio Rodriguez with the poetry of Juan Felipe Herrera, one of America's finest Chicano writers.

Here is a collection of linoleum cuts and poetry based on the imagery of la lotería, a popular folkloric game of chance that originated in 18th-century colonial Mexico and is still quite popular today. Rodriguez's prints are haunting and exquisite, and Herrera's hallucinatory, sometimes poignant poems were written in direct response to them. Together, they map the modern heart of this richly symbolic popular tradition.

Lotería is a unique collaboration, a seamless union of word and image, and of Mexican and Chicano sensibilities. A commonly shared tradition has engendered a brilliant and inspiring leap across borders into a game of life with many ways to win.