Comprehending Forever by Rich Villar makes you begin to appreciate your ability to feel and to love – all things meaningful in your life – more than you ever felt before. His writing opens minds, educates, and embodies all things artistic. And in his poetry book, Comprehending Forever, you’ll find yourself falling in love with poetry (again).
ABOUT THE BOOK
In the ecstatic tradition of Neruda and Lorca, Rich Villar’s first collection of poems is a journey through love, from its beginning to its ending, told through the interplay of light and darkness, music, metaphysics, and Spanglish expression.
“Rich Villar’s first book is a lyrical collection of love poems, and a great deal more. There are echoes here of Lorca and early Neruda, surreal, ecstatic, sensual, electrically charged. The poet not only praises his beloved; he celebrates the world around him, from Bustelo to the bossa nova, from the Triborough Bridge to Luquillo beach. The title poem is a tour de force, as Villar transcends a history of brutality and grief to find redemption and healing in the embrace of another human being. In the words of Whitman: “This indeed is music!” ~ Martín Espada, author of The Republic of Poetry
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Rich Villar is a writer, performer, editor, activist, and educator originally from Paterson, New Jersey. His first collection of poems, Comprehending Forever (Willow Books, 2015), was a finalist for the International Latino Book Award. He is an alum of the VONA/Voices Workshop (Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation) and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. He has been quoted on Latino/a literature and culture by HBO and The New York Times. He maintains his personal blog at literatiboricua.com and is a contributor to Latino Rebels and Sofrito For Your Soul.
Rich has taught poetry and nonfiction in various settings from prisons to universities to community centers nationwide. He currently teaches for the School of Poetic Arts (La SoPA NYC) in New York City, a community-based creative writing program. Since 2008, he has served as a curator for La Casita at Lincoln Center Out Of Doors, appearing twice as the show’s emcee. He has contributed both poems and performances to various theater spaces, including Actors Stock NYC, and Luna Stage in West Orange, NJ. He is a proud activist for the uprising of the Latinx community in literature, politics, and culture, and of #PoetsForPuertoRico; lending his poetic talents, in November 2017 and again in April 2018, to help raise funds to benefit Comedores Sociales de PR.
In Summer 2018, Rich opened for Bobby Sanabria’s Multiverse Big Band, performing WEST SIDE STORY RE-IMAGINED at Lincoln Center. Rich recited his poem “There’s a Big Ass Puerto Rican Flag on the Wall of My Apartment and This is the Reason Why,” with his beloved mother, sister, family, friends, and fans in attendance. Watch his performance here.
(Video courtesy of Isa Guzman)
TO PURCHASE YOUR COPY OF COMPREHENDING FOREVER by Rich Villar, visit:
http://aquariuspress.myshopify.com/products/comprehending-forever-by-rich-villar
For more information about writer, Rich Villar or to contact him for bookings, visit:
Website: http://www.literatiboricua.com
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Twitter: @elprofe316
Instagram: @elprofe316
