This River Here

Overview

San Antonio poet laureate Carmen Tafolla captures her hometown—the city of her ancestors for the past three centuries—in poems that celebrate its history as a cosmopolitan multilingual cultural crossroads. Discover San Antonio's corazón in Tafolla's poetry, accompanied by historic and contemporary photographs that convey its enduring sense of place. A century ago, San Antonio gave Oscar Wilde "a thrill of strange pleasure." J. Frank Dobie claimed that "every Texan has two hometowns—his own and San Antonio," and Will Rogers declared it to be "one of the three unique cities of America." To Larry McMurtry, "San Antonio has kept an ambiance that all the rest of our cities lack." Carmen Tafolla calls forth the soul of this place—the holy home of the waters, called Yanaguana by los indios—and celebrates the many cultures that have made of it "un rebozo bordado de culturas y colores."

Reviews

"Tafolla is a pioneer of Chicana literature."  —Ana Castillo, author, So Far From God

"A world-class writer."  —Alex Haley, author, Roots

"In Tafolla's poetry, the disenfranchised speak for themselves in their own language."  —Yolanda Broyles-González, author, Lydia Mendoza's Life in Music

"If you have visited San Antonio, you know this beautiful city lives on its river walk. Ms. Tafolla weaves lovely descriptions of the water with engrossing stories of her family, generation upon generation. She includes some heirloom photographs and illustrations to give faces to the people she so strikingly describes."  —ThirdCoastDaily.com

"This River Here: Poems of San Antonio . . . . explores in homespun yet elegant ways the recent history and cultural development of the area, its unique linguistic and social milieu. With her characteristic mix of humor, insight and compassion, Tafolla once again assumes the many memorable voices of her community to weave the unforgettable portrait of a truly unique city." —David Bowles, the Monitor, McAllen, TX

"In a reflective array of more than 30 original poems, Tafolla shows her town to the reader, from missions, the streets, the famous River Walk, the parks and the barrios. She also writes about the people, their tie to the river and the land. She explains the city's evolution from a Spanish settlement founded in 1691 to the present . . . . Carmen Tafolla's This River Here is an instant classic reminiscent of Carl Sandburg's famous poems about Chicago. But, this work is about San Antonio and Tafolla's words are 'Puro Tejano.'" —Dr. Manuel Flores, Corpus Christi Caller-Times

Author Biography

Carmen Tafolla is a professor and a writer in residence for Children's, Youth & Transformative Literature at the University of Texas-San Antonio. She is the author of more than 20 books, including Curandera, The Holy Tortilla and a Pot of Beans, Rebozos, Sonnets and Salsa, and Tamales, Comadres, and the Meaning of Civilization, and the recipient of numerous literary honors, including the Américas Award, the Art of Peace Award, the Charlotte Zolotow Award, two Tomás Rivera Mexican-American Book Awards, and two International Latino Book Awards. She is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and was named the first poet laureate of San Antonio. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.