Cultural Evidence

Poetry. Asian American Studies. This deeply thoughtful assemblage from Catalina Cariaga documents the search for cultural clues suggested by her title. She reveals her generational memory both circumstantially and directly, where in her childhood 'the sea is woman,' the barong (traditional shirt) is an ironic symbol, and Billie Holiday, grunion, and the exact procedure for citizen's arrest -- like a palimpsest -- further define her point-of-view...This is a brave, innovative, and ultimately searing book -- Joyce Jenkins. Catalina Cariaga is a pyrotechnic burst of light in the horizon of American poetry. CULTURAL EVIDENCE is a worthy book of poems for all libraries and lovers of avant-garde literature -- Nick Carbo.