book of provocations by mónica teresa ortiz

In fragmented lyric and explosive song, mónica teresa ortiz’s poems explore catastrophe, illustrating in verse the refusal of the human spirit to submit to systems of oppression, and its undying cry for liberation. Because these are love poems, too. Singing for their beloveds, for hope, for deliverance. Singing for the afterlife, which ortiz envisions as a queer futurity in which “Nothing matters more than halting the brutal mechanizations of colonialism."

With the Joe W. Bratcher Prize, Host Publications aims to amplify the kind of work that Joe was most passionate about—poetry that pushes the boundaries of form, art and culture, poetry that is urgent in its subject matter, poetry with a heart that beats for change.

mónica teresa ortiz (they / them) is a poet, memory worker, and critic born, raised, and based in Texas.

On Poetics, Annulet, Vol 2
Five from Provocations, The Brooklyn Rail
An Essay on Air, The Thinking Republic
Straight, No Chaser, Autostraddle
Riding with the Poet, ortiz Substack