Good Poetry Travels Through Time: Voices from the Jewish Heart of Latin America
By Corinne Joy Brown
Some say poetry is making a comeback. I’d like to think it never left. This rich collection of poems not only gathers distinguished voices from across Jewish Latin America but assembles them into a chorus of concerns shared by Jews across time and place. The diverse selections include translations from as far back as the 16th century and the poignant thoughts of the maligned Carvajal family (Luis de Carvajal the Younger and his sister Leonor de Carvajal y Andrade) to the very contemporary thoughts of Mexican poet and writer Angelina Muniz Huberman who was born in France, converted to Judaism and traced her ancestry to conversos who stayed in Spain.
The works are all in English, not Spanish or Portuguese as one might expect, since many of the entries were originally written in the poet’s mother tongue, be it Yiddish, French, Polish, Ukrainian, Russian or any other language of origin. Kudos to the several talented translators who have bridged the gap and brought the poem’s profound and/or nuanced meaning to readers of English.
That said, readers of poetry are a special breed. The art form is so direct, personal and intimate, it demands the reader be fully present. Chapbooks are not for cowards. Unlike a novel which you might pick up and put down at will, a poem demands your full attention—it’s all or nothing. You enter it without the possibility of turning back. Shakespeare reminded us that “great poets need great audiences.” (Fortunately, we still have some.) For those readers or listeners who love poetry, anthologies like this one exist, and the world is better for it.
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Poetry written by Jewish poets in any language is sure to awaken themes familiar to Jewish readers in general. Ideas centered around exile, the Holocaust, antisemitism, return, redemption, and the very nature of God emerge in varied entries, influenced by centuries of shared experience including inherited trauma, as well as common hopes and fears. Poetry by the diverse Jews of Latin America, be they descendants of Spanish or Portuguese colonization, 19th and 20th century European immigrants to Latin countries, or contemporary writers native to their country, deserve special notice.
Jewish intellectual life in Latin American countries evolved and flourished in spite of the domination of the Church and centuries of enforced persecution. Later, countries like México, Brazil, and Argentina became home to Jewish communities seeking escape from the plague of antisemitic Europe and the ravages of Hitler. Poetry seems always to come with flight, giving voice to fear and fuel to courage.
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After repeated visits to the pages of this collection, I am convinced one does not read such a book. Rather, one wanders through it slowly, savoring separate encounters with strangers whose voices cut through banalities with no apologies. With each selection, the editor provides the briefest biography, introducing us to a gallery of brilliant minds – men and women of letters, academics of every kind, writers and popular figures in artistic, intellectual and even political realms. Their works, offered in free verse, rhyme, quatrains, couplets, acrostics, stanzas, litanies, even narrative poems, strike to the core of human experience—longing, wonder, isolation, connection, love, loss, regret, and more. In the specifics of their experience lies the universality that ties us all to one another.
I offer this particular excerpt by Lizar Liacho (1906-1969), an Argentine poet, narrator essayist, and journalist – closure to a poem titled “To Be Born Jewish”. In its entirety, a searing lament or elegy.
To be born Jewish is to weep in atonement,
to be a bird without a nest, migratory,
For being born Jewish there is no pardon.
Or, by contrast, the poem by Rosita Kalina (1934-2004) a one-time writer, poet and English teacher at the University of Costa Rica from whose poem the title of the anthology was taken. “I Am of the Tribe of Judah”, a celebration.
I am of the tribe of Judah, that of my grandparents and great grandparents,
That of Solomon, of Jesus and Einstein.
Not to mention Freud, whose valuable Kabbalistic secret
Leaped to the therapist’s chair….
Too many more to highlight here, the collection is a walk through the Jewish heart and mind, through the full range of experience. I dare any reader who commits not to be moved.
Most importantly, the lengthy and dazzling introduction to this book by historian, professor, writer, poet and Latin American Jew born in Mexico City, Ilan Stavans, is worth the price of the book alone. It serves as a summary of Jewish history including the presence of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews in Latin countries, at universities, and elsewhere. Stavans has a remarkable way of creating the big picture and defining the essential parts that make it what it is. His own background which has created a kind of dual identity, makes him especially well-suited for this overview, an area of expertise for which few are as qualified. In addition, he’s also a notable poet himself.
If reading poetry is not your usual fare, consider this book a series of mini-biographies instead, rather like speed-dating – the briefest introduction to the life of a Jewish writer you will surely be glad you met.
Good poetry travels through time. Come along for the ride.
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Editor's Note: Lisa McCoy, Executive Director of New Mexico Writers, presented a copy of this book to the New Mexico Jewish Journal when Sarah Mandala, Fiscal Sponsorship Manager of the New Mexico Community Foundation, brought us together for lunch. NMCF serves as fiscal sponsor for both organizations — a connection that continues to bear fruit for New Mexico's literary community. Lisa also introduced us to their newsletter, The New Mexico Writer, a rich compendium of resources and opportunities for writers, and where we are now listed.
About New Mexico Writers: "New Mexico Writers is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to supporting and connecting the state's literary community. Our mission is to provide grants, as well as networking and career development opportunities, to aspiring and established writers from diverse communities throughout New Mexico and the greater Navajo Nation."
Corinne Joy Brown is an award-winning author of historical fiction and non-fiction inspired by the American West with ten books in print, including her acclaimed novel Hidden Star about crypto-Jews. She also writes memoirs, plus freelances for a variety of print publications focused on design, architecture, fine art, and popular culture. Corinne writes middle-grade fiction as well, and has published a series of art books for young readers who love horses. A past-president of the Denver Woman’s Press Club, a founding member of Women Writing the West, and the editor/publisher of HaLapid, an academic journal serving the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies, she is a Fellow of the University of Colorado History Department at CU/Colorado Springs. She and her husband live in Colorado and enjoy their German Shepherd, Ziggy. Stav Appel has inspired her next novel. Visit her at https://corinnejoybrown.com/
Read also by Corinne Joy Brown:
No One Came to Taos to be Jewish or the book you weren’t looking for but are glad you found
New Mexico By Proxy or How my soul came to belong to New Mexico
The Torah in the Tarot by Stav Appel, Coming from Ayin Press FIRST PLACE, Religion Feature, Society Professional Journalist Top of the Rockies 2026 and 3rd Place, Religion, NMPW.
From Mabel Dodge Luhan to Rosh HaShanah, An Unexpected Connection 2nd Place Personal Essay, New Mexico Press Women 2026
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Shabbat with Friends: Recapturing Together the Joy of Shabbat
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