500,000 Azaleas

In verses that fuse highly original imagery with exuberant rhythms, Efrain Huerta probes the cultures of both Mexico and "el Norte, " from the impact of racism in Mississippi to political corruption in Mexico. Since he demanded for life and art the same freedom he demanded for politics, his poetry is often erotic. His poems are passionate outcries to love and justice, characterized by original metaphors and an acerbic wit that earned him the nickname "Crocodile."

Poet and translator Jim Normington was a founding member of the American Literary Translators Association. Born in 1952, he has published widely for the past 20 years and currently teaches English at Freemont Adult School in Sacramento, California.