Customer Reviews

Returning a Borrowed Tongue: An Anthology of Filipino and Filipino American Poetry

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Returning A Borrowed Tongue gathers the work of prominent poets who are Filipino or Filipino-American. The established writers, Gemino Abad, NVM Gonzalez, Jessica Hagedorn, are presented along with new voices like Jaime Jacinto. It sounds trite but I laughed, I cried, I read some of them over and over and wanted to talk to the poets themselves! Get this book if you have one drop of Filipino blood in you. Or even if you don't.

This book was not what I expected, expecially after reading the previous reviews. The poetry is excellent but very cerebral! It is a Filipino version of what you study in Humanities in college.

Trying to find Filipino poets is a difficult task. I picked this up in my search for the elusive collections. Unfortunately, I found that although mentioned in the introduction as the "winner of such prestigious American literary prizes as the Guggenheim and Shelley Memorial Award", he is not included in the collection. I am disappointed and curious as to why this would be.

This book is a must read for those trying to understand the assimilation of Filipino's into the American society. At times the works were rather deep, but after a bit of study, it is a total delight. I must say a lot of the material is not "easy reading" but it is all worth the effort.

I've searched many book stacks for Filipino poetry and came up empty until I found this excellent anthology edited by Nick Carbo. There are poets included that have high currency back in the Philippines but have no audience in America. Veteran poets like Dominador Ilio, Gemino Abad, Marjorie Evasco, and Ricardo de Ungria have poems in this book that attests to the vibrancy and superior writing that is happening in the Philippines.Younger Filipino American poets like Eugene Gloria, Catalina Cariaga, and Patrick Pardo are represented with wonderful poems that speak of their experiences of growing up Filipino and American. This book is "a must buy" as Marilyn Chin says in the blurb, not just for its historical value but for its poetic treasures. Kailani

I loved it! With a spring of anthologies on Filipino and Filipino-American writers, this is one of the best. It runs the gambit of Filipinio poetry being done today from the reknown and well-published, to the up and coming and from the MFA academics to the social worker in South of Market.

Let's face it, there aren't a whole lot of places where writing by Filipinos is easily accesible and this book opens the door. Love it or leave it, it's at least here to be critiqued.

I've been a fan of Mr. Carbo's work since he submitted the "Filipino Politician" to "maganda", a Filipino literary publication from U.C. Berkeley, for print. I'm surprised his own book, "El Grupo McDonald's" is not found in the listing at amazon.com (another enjoyable work).