Despojo

What Tatiana has done with Despojo is pure delight!
She offers home, love, peace and healing. Her heritage
woven into each line, sharing her roots and the wisdom
from her ancestors. With each poem, she tells a story

with a quiet yet bold flare that only she possesses. Mas-
terfully written and a complete gem is this masterpiece!

--C. Thomas, Poet & Author of Bernard's Bedroom

Despojo waters us with a conversation of identity Ca-
ribeños know all too well. A refreshing exploration of

both wanting to belong and tracing back all that makes
us feel seen. This collection reminds us that it is in the
shedding of skin that we learn to mend.
--Melania-Luisa Marte, Poet & Author of Mela

Despojo is a testament to so many things: the pain and
healing in the aftermath of sexual violence, the lineages
Tatiana honors and writes within, the fact that love
is a verb. The poems in Despojo carry an impossible
amount of compassion for their subjects. I learn from
Tatiana Figueroa Ramirez the act of staying put and
just looking; she is a poet deeply invested in witnessing

her family and ancestry, in writing with an uncom-
promising eye towards balancing the truth and the

turmoil. She never turns away. I am so lulled by her
language, which is so skillful it has a spine. Flowers
dot the pages, the air becomes thinner and sweet with
molasses. Do yourself a favour and learn what it really
means to trace lineage, to write with strength towards
people who have hurt you, to stand and carry an entire
history on your shoulders.
--Nancy Huang, Author of Favorite Daughter