TERTULIA

A tertulia, in Latin countries, is a gathering for people to share their creations and ideas, and this poetry collection goes far to capture that spirit. Many of the ideas are about how Puerto Rico and its people-- and Spanish-speaking people in general--are seen and treated by the U.S. government. There is a lot of justifiable anger here, but not every poem is steeped in it. Sadly, Robert Ramirez's narration gives every poem the same treatment, so the ones that are not angry sound as if they are. This gives listeners no emotional breaks, doing an injustice to some fine work. D.M.H. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2020]