Handling Destiny

Enchanting both the ear and the soul, this collection is the third in Adrian Castro’s series on the diasporic triangle of Africa, the Caribbean, and North America. Deeply spiritual, laced with history and myth, and interspersed with Spanish and the Yoruba dialect, these poems “keep flying forward / Sankófa-like / looking back into history at us.” Tempered by loss and memories of the migratory experience (forced and otherwise), they give voice to the legacy of these regions and their people, creating a poetic atlas of cultures.

Publication date: October 1, 2009

Format: Trade Paper

Dimensions: 6 x 9

Page count: 84 pages

ISBN: 9781566892353

A Cuban-Dominican poet and Ifa priest from Miami, Adrian Castro writes as if “Chano Pozo were hitting the keys of a typewriter instead of the skin of a drum.” He has performed at the Nuyorican Poets’ Café in New York, Naropa Institute in Boulder, The Hemingway Literary Festival in Chicago, and The Miami Book Fair International. He is the author of Cantos to Blood & Honey, Wise Fish, and most recently, Handling Destiny.

“Castro is a Whitman, not of America, but of all the Americas.”

—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Between three cultures, Adrian Castro has seen many things. . . . Handling Destiny is a fascinating read that should not be ignored.”

—Midwest Book Review

“Adrian Castro weaves myth, history, music, courage, spirit and a heart deep with knowledge and tenderness into a poetry that is all fire: an original and essential voice.”

—Chris Abani

“A challenging, dense, and very rich read.”

—Poetry Foundation