Red Hot Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Being Young and Latino in the United States

i think in spanish

i write in english

i want to go back to puerto rico,

but i wonder if my kink could live

in ponce, mayagüez and carolina

tengo las venas aculturadas

escribo en spanglish

abraham in español

—from "My Graduation Speech," by Tato Laviera

Ten years after the publication of the acclaimed Cool Salsa, editor Lori Marie Carlson has brought together a stunning variety of Latino poets for a long-awaited follow-up. Established and familiar names are joined by many new young voices, and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Oscar Hijuelos has written the Introduction.

The poets collected here illuminate the difficulty of straddling cultures, languages, and identities. They celebrate food, family, love, and triumph. In English, Spanish, and poetic jumbles of both, they tell us who they are, where they are, and what their hopes are for the future.