Sea of Broken Mirrors

Award-winning poet, novelist and translator's new collection Sea of Broken Mirrors is a book of questions and incantations. Full of lush sonics and surreal yet contemporary imagery, the book offers Medina's take on biblical canticles. His work is grounded in descriptions of Vermont's nature --still beautiful despite the ravages of global warming--as well as memories of his youth and family. Born in Cuba and raised there until the age of twelve, Medina infuses his work with Cuban culture. For him, cultural identity is not a static reality, but a vessel riding the sea into the unknown. The poems explore how the diminishment of self (indeed, its ultimate disappearance) can be a way of engaging with the world, the ultimate essence of which is found in the language of poetry.