Tropicalia is a collection of poems by Emma Trelles, winner of the
Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize. The book is a melodic union between the
green insistence of the subtropics and the city ensconced within.
Trelles's language is detailed and startling, her poems infused with
color and light, and the secret beauty of back alleys and parking lots
is seamed to sorrow, hope, and land. Rock bands play among odes to Lorca
and Chagall, and the hard news of protest and war lives among the simple
pleasures of words and sky.
"Tropicalia borrows its title from the Brazilian art movement of the
same name, a vibrant blend of genres and styles that colored the
international arts scene in the late 1960s and 1970s. Edgier and more
savvy than the flower-power hippie culture of its neighbors to the
north, its vast creative energy drew from many different sources to
shape a new hybrid most strongly felt in music, but also visual and
performance art, poetry, film, and fashion. As mirror, Tropicalia the
book brings a similar energy into the mix. Trelles imbues her odd brew
of poetic styles and voices with a strong visual sense. The result is a
narrative infused with a powerful physicality of place." --from the
introduction by Silvia Curbelo, 2010 Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize judge