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For this anthology, I've had the great honor of selecting work by a variety of poets. Among them you'll find work by poets very well-known in the Young Adult field: Joseph Bruchac, Margarita Engle, Nikki Grimes, Linda Sue Park, Carmen Tafolla, Padma Venkatraman, and Janet Wong. Everyone one a great poet, all of them also known for their writing for young adult readers. You'll also find works by many poets classified as literary; that is, folks publishing for an adult reading audience, starting in the lit mags and journals, and progressing to books of their own. These are too many to mention here. Rodney Gomez, Julia Perez, and Melina Melgoza contributed visual poems (and you'll find Melgoza's work gracing the cover, as well). Though I'd seen visual poems before, I'd never really read them until I was challenged to consider not just what these looked like but also what they were speaking. There are some first-time poets on the list, too. One I'd like to mention is Paloma Muniz-Ochoa, who was, unbeknownst to me, 11 years old at the time of submission and acceptance.
I'm honored that these poets answered the call for submissions because if anyone can speak to pressing issues of the day, it's poets. Thanks to them all.
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I conclude this introduction with essential Whitman: "I exist as I am, that is enough." As it should be.
-René Saldaña, Jr.
August 2020
