Rodrigo V. Dela Peña Jr.’s Tangere (re)turns to José Rizal as a gesture of mining hallowed texts for new possibilities, with each poem corresponding to a chapter in Noli Me Tangere. Part experiment, part palimpsest and collage, part interrogation and reclamation, the poetic sequence channels the imagined voices of Maria Clara, Pilosopo Tasio, Sisa, and other minor characters of Rizal to create a resonant, kaleidoscopic chorus. With this reinvention of the Noli, we are reminded of how poetry can help us see, hear, and touch the world anew.

“Crystalline and compelling, the suite of poems that is Tangere issues an injunction to touch and respond—above all, to remain engaged—as readers inhabit anew Rizal’s world and multitude of characters and, in so doing, experience the Philippines more than a century hence as if it were a century ago.  Rodrigo V. Dela Peña Jr. adeptly harnesses poetry’s capacity to probe lingering social divisions, generate new meanings, and imagine and induce change.”

—Caroline S. Hau