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>>In the Republic of Longing

ISBN: 0-927534-89-4
88 pp. | paper only | $10.00

Virgil Suarez

In the Republic of Longing is a collection of poems about exile, immigration, and assimilation. It explores the author's memories of growing up in Havana, Los Angeles, and Miami. He beautifully captures the logic and pathos of childhood, the tragedies and politics of the adult world that are only half-understood but far-reaching in their effects. These are poems that are easily accessible yet that resonate with a depth of meaning and emotion.

"...a powerful, courageous book by one of our most important Latino writers."

— Gustavo Perez Firmat, author of Next Year in Cuba

"One will never find this country on any map because it exists only in the stubborn imagination of exiles; it is an in-between country where poets operate the heavy machinery of time, longing, and impossibility...."

— Andrei Codrescu, author of Messiah

Virgil Suarez was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1962 and moved to the United States in 1974. Although educated in the United States from age twelve, Suarez has been preoccupied with the themes of immigration, exile, and acculturation in the United States. He is the author of Latin jazz, The Cutter, and Going Under.