Weaving science-fiction, Mexican folklore, and magical realism, this 50-poem collection explores the wonders and pitfalls of humanity in a future yet to come. Experience a faraway world where sapient flora sing melodic tunes; behold orbit-plunging taco trucks as they make planetfall; observe as El Cucuy becomes a stowaway on a space shuttle; witness a neurologically-enhanced lobster become President of the United States; bear the agonizing wave of shrink-ray-gun violence plaguing public schools. All these sights and more await in Mexicans on the Moon: Speculative Poetry from a Possible Future!
"Iniguez takes us on a galactic journey to a poignant future in "Mexicans on the Moon" through entertaining and thought-provoking poetry by adding powerful twists to current social and ecological situations. I completely enjoyed the haunting tales told in Iniguez's remarkable poems, here is a poet who knows how to engage the reader!"
-Linda D. Addison, award-winning author, HWA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and SFPA Grand Master.
"The smooth blending of Cultural Poetics and Scientific Genius that is Pedro Iniguez gleams brightly through his new book of poems, MEXICANS ON THE MOON, dropping on us like "a beautiful bomb." This book is a wonderful reminder of what we, Brown People, are also capable of in shaping our would-be futures and in some cases without past colonial intervention. This style, which is essentially the poetic form of Chicano Futurism, and like very few before him, combines short glimpses of verse with real science, a touch of alternate history, and a spicy taste of science fiction that makes some of us wish, "What if, ese?"
The refined words within remind me of the ones I could find in the pages of OMNI and other magazines like it back in the last century when I was reading them. These words also remind me of the great possibilities for speculative poets with Spanish sounding names that are sometimes excluded from the overabundant flow of an English-speaking mainstream. But this isn't about politics. This is about Great Poetics! And MEXICANS ON THE MOON is a Great Book of Poems! I am extremely proud of Pedro Iniguez's superior endeavor. This truly is a great book to build new dreams... or die from them. Exito!"
-Juan Manuel Prez, author of Bury My Heart Under The Martian Sky, 2019-2020 Poet Laureate Of Corpus Christi, Texas
"Ever fleeting, yet intimate, and fantastical, with a rhythm of wonder and charm and care, Pedro Iniguez' Mexicans on the Moon is sometimes tender, often tragic, but ever so gentle and loving."
-Cynthia Pelayo, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Crime Scene