How to Be a Good Savage and Other Poems

“Milkweed’s Seedbank series is one of the most exciting and visionary projects in contemporary publishing. Taking the long view, these volumes run parallel to the much-hyped books of the moment to demonstrate the possibility and hope inherent in all great literature.”

“Through its cultural-linguistic contribution to narrative diversity, Milkweed’s Seedbank series is a vital tool in imagining the futures possible for humanity beyond the anthropocene. Bringing works from Greek, K’iche’, German, Russian (and more!) whose authors are deeply rooted in their homelands, each voice encountered has resonated with me on a seemingly cellular level—shifting and changing both who I am and can be. I will continue to press these books into the hands of compassionate readers and cannot wait to share the forthcoming titles in the project!”

“Milkweed as a publishing house has long been championing literary works both fictitious and true to life centered around culture, nature, and environmentalism. The Seedbank series serves as both a marvelous introduction to the books Milkweed provides and as a collection of essential stories that ought to be on everyone’s radar. The words behind these front covers highlight life-changing experiences, knowledge, and ways of life from communities that are seldom otherwise heard from in the publishing world through an authentic cultural lens. What I’ve read from the Seedbank line is phenomenal, and I look forward to spending time with future works in the series.”

“In How to Be a Good Savage and Other Poems, Macy’s store windows and buildings like “dark, silent tombs” share space with sacred mountains and flowers that teach newborns to speak. […] [Sanchez’s] writing is compelling in part because she manages to simultaneously honor and challenge traditions — her own and those of others — presenting a Zoque worldview in dialogue with global ecology, feminism and modernity writ large.”

“As the first woman to ever publish a book of poetry in Zoque, a language spoken in Southern Mexico, and Spanish, this poetry collection encompasses colonialism, lineage, and the balance to embrace ancestral roots and the present. Powerful and lyrical, this collection is unlike anything other collection of poems I’ve read before.”

“In a fiercely personal yet authoritative voice…Mikeas Sánchez explores the worldview of the Zoque people of southern Mexico[…] How to Be a Good Savage and Other Poems examines the intersection of Zoque struggles against colonialism and empire, and those of North African immigrants and refugees. […] Coming from the only woman to ever publish a book of poetry in Zoque and Spanish, this timely, powerful collection pairs the bilingual originals with an English translation for the first time.

“In a fiercely personal yet authoritative voice, prolific contemporary poet Mikeas Sánchez explores the worldview of the Zoque people of southern Mexico. Her paced, steely lyrics fuse cosmology, lineage, feminism, and environmental activism into a singular body of work that stands for the self and the collective in the same instant.”

“This trilingual poetry collection is truly a remarkable landmark. […] Sánchez’ poems are transfixing and invigorating. Her recitation in a language spoken by an estimated 100,000 people is rhythmic and fluid, giving listeners a beautiful introduction to the meter and intended emotion of each poem and essentially functioning like music in a language unknown to listeners. The Spanish serves as a more familiar bridge from the Indigenous language to English. Each English narration that follows, whether by Call’s warm, high tones or Shook’s deep voice and poetic cadence, audibly empathizes with the poem’s Zoque origin. A compelling and storied audio with appeal for those who appreciate international poetry, Spanish speakers, and listeners from Indigenous Mexican communities seeking literary representation.” 

“How to Be a Good Savage and Other Poems is not simply another poetry collection. Its pages are, notably, a means of cultural and linguistic preservation, and each and every poem is call for attention to and awareness of the cultures, beliefs, and peoples colonialism has long displaced and overshadowed.”

“Indigenous Zoque poet, translator, and activist Sánchez’s vital English-language debut features translations of some of her previously published Zoque and Spanish poems. The collection presents each poem first in Zoque, then in Spanish, then, for the first time, in English, thanks to translators Call and Shook. In their illuminating foreword, the translators note that out of an estimated 110,000 Zoque people, who are primarily located in the Mexican state of Chiapas, only 15,000 speak Copainalá, the dialect spoken by Sánchez and her family. Zoque is an endangered language, and its presence here is a gift. Sánchez’s poems speak of enslavement and resistance, of environmental activism, community, and, above all, the power of women’s voices: “I am woman and I celebrate every vein/ where I guard my ancestors’ secrets/ every Zoque man’s word in my mouth/ every Zoque woman’s wisdom in my spit.” The audio offers listeners incredible access to the Zoque language, narrated by Sánchez herself. Some might want to listen and read at the same time, if only to see the orthography of a language without an established written tradition. VERDICT A groundbreaking and deeply passionate poetry collection that celebrates language and feminine power. Not to be missed.”