Anchored Angel, The [Paperback]

Jose Garcia Villa (Author), Eileen Tabios (Editor), Nick Carbo (Contributor), Jonathan Chua (Contributor), Luis Cabalquinto (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 1999

By Luis Cabalquinto. Edited by Eileen Tabios. Contributions by Nick Carbo, Jonathan Chua, Jose Garcia Villa.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

NEW BOOK REINTRODUCES WRITINGS OF CELEBRATED FILIPINO AMERICAN POET AND FICTION WRITER JOSE GARCIA VILLA

Kaya is proud to present The Anchored Angel: Selected Writings by Jose Garcia Villa, a collection of poetry and prose by the celebrated Filipino American writer, edited by Eileen Tabios and with a foreword by Jessica Hagedorn. At the height of his career, in the forties and fifties, Villa's writings earned him prizes, fellowships, and lavish praise from such literary luminaries as Edith Sitwell, Marianne Moore, e. e. cummings, W. H. Auden, and Mark Van Doren. Yet, his work has been out of the public eye for more than thirty years, and out of print for more than fifteen. Although named a National Artist in the Philippines where he was born, Villa remains largely unknown here in the United States, where his reputation among the elite of modernist experimental poets was made.

Kaya's republication of Villa's writings both recovers and rediscovers the work of this fierce iconoclast for a new generation. Included are reprints of his major poems and representatives from each of his significant experiments, as well as short stories, critical work, and paintings. A critical component of the book are essays by contemporary Filipino and Filipino American writers including: Luis Cabalquinto, Nick Carbo, Jonathan Chua, Luis Francia, Nick Joaquin, E. San Juan, and Alfred Yuson. New force in the Asian American literary world, Eileen Tabios, has edited the volume, and Jessica Hagedorn, celebrated poet, novelist, and playwright, contributes a thoughtful foreword.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Kaya/Muae; 1st edition (October 2, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885030282
• ISBN-13: 978-1885030283
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,116,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rediscovering A Minor Master, March 9, 2002

By 

M. Hori "Jesse Glass" (Urayasu, Chiba Japan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Anchored Angel, The (Paperback)

This book is a delight. The sampling of Villa's experimental and visionary work is good. The memoirs and essays at the end of the book are superb. One writer wonders why Villa does not appear in contemporary anthologies of modernist and postmodernist anthologies and posits the "otherness" of Villa as Philippine-American as the cause. I agree, but also suggest that Villa's "wrestling with God" in the sense that Hopkins and the 17th c. Metaphysicals did, did not endear him to the decidedly secular critics of the latter half of the 20th c. This book also includes short stories and Villa's own criticism as well. Deign of the book is good, and the title poem is worth the price of admission alone.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Moving Tribute, November 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Anchored Angel, The (Paperback)

From a review by Jean Gier for The International Examinder's PACIFIC READER:

(Villa's) poetry surprised me; the language was stunning, singular; not like any other poetry I had ever read, although it reminded me of Lorca, Dickinson, and even Gertrude Stein. It is an often disturbing poetry that seems torn between a 16th century lyrical mysticism, and an almost violent modernism...

The Anchored Angel is a moving tribute to an artist whose work deserves much more attention. Perhaps even more important, this edition begins to fill in the gaps of knowledge about this author, the impact of his work and critical thought...and its literary significance to modernist writing in the United States, as well as the Philippines.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Long Overdue Tribute, June 20, 2007

By 

Jerry Engelbach (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Anchored Angel, The (Paperback)

I was in José's poetry class at the New School in New York City around 1970.

After class he and a few of us students would go over to Smith's Bar and talk about everything until all hours. The book characterizes him as being at times irascible. If so, I never saw it. Opinionated, yes, often heatedly. But always responsive to a debating opponent and willing to praise a good argument.

José taught me to understand poetry. He was intolerant of "versed-up" prose. He was disdainful of the vogue of self-expression through automatic writing. For him poetry was an art and a craft, requiring talent, study, and discipline.

For better or worse, the discrimination I got from him made me dismiss a number of poets I had hitherto admired, but gave me an appreciation of a much greater number I had not previously considered.

Unfortunately, I was not endowed with much talent for writing poetry, and was not invited into José's select private classes.

After the New School class ended, so did my relationship with José. I was sad to hear of his death, and later delighted to find this book, a long overdue, beautifully written tribute to a great poet and teacher.