Description
Book SynopsisA 4-part poetry collection that explores women’s roles in familial dynamics, immigration, and El Salvador’s civil war while reflecting on the death of the poet’s father
A National Poetry Series winner, selected by the celebrated poet Reginald Dwayne BettsWhen COVID-19 broke and the United States closed the border to travel, Alexandra Lytton Regalado was separated from family back in El Salvador. She wrote
Relinquenda entirely during lockdown as a meditation on cancer, the passing of her father, and the renewed significance of community.
The central part of the collection focuses on her father during his 6-year struggle with cancer and considers how his stoicism, alcoholism, and hermitage might serve as mirror and warning. In contrast, she dedicates other poems to what it means for daughters, mothers, and wives to care for another as reflected in her relationships with the men in her life.
Situated in the tropical lands
