A collection of previously published poems by renowned National Book Award-winning Chamoru poet Craig Santos Perez.

The seventh book from award-winning Chamoru author Craig Santos Perez, Call This Mutiny brings together poems that were originally published in journals and anthologies from 2008 to 2023. Throughout these selected poems, Perez offers critical explorations of native cultures, decolonial politics, colonial histories, and the entangled ecologies of his homeland of Guam, his current home of Hawai'i, and the larger Pacific region in relation to the Global South and the Indigenous Fourth World. Perez's poetry draws on the power of storytelling to share Indigenous history and culture and to offer healing from the trauma of colonialism and injustice. As he writes, "If we can write the ocean, we will never be silenced."


About the Author
Craig Santos Perez is an indigenous Chamoru from the Pacific Island of Guahan (Guam). He is the coeditor of six anthologies; the author of poetry collections including Habitat Threshold and his ongoing from unincorporated territory series; and the author of the monograph, Navigating Chamoru Poetry: Indigeneity, Aesthetics, and Decolonization. He is professor in the English department at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa. Perez has received the National Book Award for Poetry, American Book Award, Pen Center USA/Poetry Society of America Literary Prize, Hawai'i Literary Arts Council Award, Nautilus Book Award, and the George Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature from the Associated Writing Programs.

Reviews
"In his seventh book of poetry, celebrated Chamoru poet Perez turns his gaze at his island of Guam, and abroad, and back again. Perez employs a variety of forms, including an anagram that converts a rising 'ocean' into a 'canoe' that saves lives, and an abecedarian titled 'ECL (English as a Colonial Language),' which alphabetizes a concise history of Guam's colonization. . . . Another engaging, timely, and insightful collection from a deeply talented poet." * Booklist starred review *
"The thrilling latest by Perez gathers previously uncollected poems in a powerhouse package of decolonial Indigenous insight. A Chamoru poet native to Guam, he confronts the ongoing legacies of European settler colonialism and past injustices across Pacific islands to the U.S. mainland and beyond. . . . This rousing and expansive collection points the way toward a more just future." * Publisher's Weekly starred review *
"In Call This Mutiny we are introduced to mutiny in the tradition of lament, mutiny in the tradition of remembering, mutiny that guides the reader to a critical understanding of how indigenous resistance and Pacific life continue to survive against the most hostile of forces. These poems are a rebellion that insist not only on survival but on a seeing that exists beyond naming or mapping, a reminder of the interconnectedness of indigenous struggles across the Americas and the steady power of memory. Call this Mutiny teaches us, plainly, that no matter what has occurred 'our wounded places / are the most holy' and it is in that holiness that we revel and thrive!"
-- Matthew Shenoda, author of "Seasons of Lotus, Seasons of Bone"
"Perez's newest collection is a refusal, as his title testifies, a mutiny. In baring the wounds of American colonialism, the poems expose the simultaneous brutality against Guahan's physical environment and the CHamoru spirit, concealed beneath a cover of good will, benevolence, and global security. They bear witness." -- Evelyn Flores, co-editor of "Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia"



Book Information
ISBN 9781632431288
Author Craig Santos Perez
Format Paperback
Page Count 72
Imprint Omnidawn Publishing
Publisher Omnidawn Publishing
Weight(grams) 141g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 10mm