ABOUT THE BOOK

In prismatic poetic vision this collection explores the early encounters between European and native peoples in the Philippines. This distant era is brought urgently, and at times surprisingly, to life through vivid verse and arresting lyricism. Here we bear witness to village shamans, Chinese craftsmen, Muslim chiefs, priests and conquerors, lovers and tricksters, as they navigate bloodshed and war, and determine the intimate contours of betrayal and belonging. There’s also a passionate argument for hope and connection here: that despite loss, trespass, and violence, a redeeming and reinvigorating revelation comes from the miraculous survival of indigenous Asia and America and all the vibrant textures that reinforce that bond. Haunting, searching, filled with innovative metaphors and musicality, the poems converge to establish a rich territory of memory, and a provocative re-imagining of our collective past.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dorian S. Merina is a poet, journalist and translator. He’s the author of Di Achichúk: Poems and Images from Batanes, the spoken word album, Heaven is a Second Language, and two chapbooks, Stone of the Fish, and The Changegiver. He lives with his family on the island of Sabtang, Batanes in the northern Philippines.