{"product_id":"9781934414729","title":"Diwata","description":"\u003cp\u003eTagalog is a language spoken by twenty-two million people in the Philippines. Diwata is a Tagalog term meaning \"muse.\" Diwata is also a term for a mythical being who resides in nature, and who human communities must acknowledge, respect, and appease in order to live harmoniously in this world.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn her book \u003ci\u003eDiwata\u003c\/i\u003e, Barbara Jane Reyes frames her poems between the Book of Genesis creation story and the Tagalog creation myth, placing her work somewhere culturally between both traditions. Also setting the tone for her poems is the death and large shadow cast by her grandfather, a World War II veteran and Bataan Death March survivor, who has passed onto her the responsibility of remembering. Reyes' voice is grounded in her community's traditions and histories, despite war and geographical dislocation.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom \"Estuary 2\":\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eShe was born with fins and fishtail,\u003cbr\u003eA quick blade slicing water.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eShe was her father's mermaid child,\u003cbr\u003eA river demon, elders said.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eShe mimicked her cetaceous brothers,\u003cbr\u003eAbalone diving bluest depths.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eShe polished smooth her brothers' masks,\u003cbr\u003eInlaid nacre half moon eyes.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eShe lit oak pyres and bade the wind\u003cbr\u003eA whispered requiem.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBarbara Jane Reyes\u003c\/b\u003e is author of two previous poetry collections including \u003ci\u003ePoeta en San Francisco\u003c\/i\u003e, which was awarded the 2005 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. She was born in Manila and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works as adjunct professor in Philippine studies at the University of San Francisco.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom National Book Critics Circle:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Diwata as a mythological invocation takes teh reader back to pre-colonial Philippines when the belief in these god and goddesses shaped the everyday lives on the Southeast Asian archipelago. They have now become your muses as you reach toward this cultural legacy to shape a distinct postmodern poetics in which yo u don’t simply erase colonial history- you build with that narrative as well.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"BOA Editions, Ltd.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47141429674224,"sku":"9781934414729","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781934414729_p0.jpg?v=1763642425","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781934414729","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}