Pérez, Bianca Alyssa: Gemini Gospel

Host Publications, Incorporated, paperback

Publication Date: April 8, 2023

Publisher Marketing: A debut collection by the Spring 2023 Host Publications Chapbook Prize Winner.

Moving through grief and memory, this stunning debut collection takes us by the hand to experience all of what is sacred in the process of authentic self-discovery. Pérez's poems boldly explore identity through her lineage of spirituality and Latina roots, even as they move into uncharted territory. In true Gemini fashion, the inherited self is entwined with the one that is discovered, loss is braided with luminous love, and no matter how deep grief runs, it brings us always back to tenderness: 'It's not easy / to remember to water the plants, / to shower and to forgive the body.' In elegizing her father, the poet expresses a tenderness that is so deeply touching to behold, it becomes a lesson in love itself: "The last thing we hope he hears / is the ocean & the sound of his boat's hull / hitting a small wave and the seagulls-- / god, I hope he hears the seagulls."

"This is a debut of linguistic and emotional luminosity, surefire craft, and ready-set-go integrity. Relishing this riveting and moving chapbook, I'm reminded that Gemini, the restless third sign of the zodiac, is associated with savvy, variety, and social flair, and it's hard to imagine an up-and-coming writer more fully engaged, more vibrant and alert than Bianca Pérez."--Cyrus Cassells, from the introduction