Yes, we're a bit late on this one, but perhaps this January has gotten away from you too. It's felt both neverending and too short. Full of uncertainty and, of course, full of tricks from the same playbook. Amidst it all, we'll continue striving to uplift our storytellers and truth-speakers.
The LLB2 team has named just a few as our most anticipated. Books we're sure will elicit joyful sparks in our brains as we read them. I speak for all of us when I say it was no easy task selecting just a few because there are so many noteworthy books arriving in the world this year. We've taken different approaches to this call of naming anticipated books. Some of us included a brief note about why we're looking forward to the books, others provided a bit of history, and one indulged in providing a wonderfully long litany without reason to entice you to read those books and see why they're excited about them.
Brittany Torres Rivera is looking forward to....
Tin House Books
The description of this memoir instantly reminded me of my favorite poem, Naomi Shihab Nye's "The Traveling Onion." Equal parts historical, personal, and gastronomical, this book feels like it was crafted for me!
Graywolf Press
I read Caldwell's Women for the first (and soon after, second) time in 2024 and was instantly in love with her narrative style as well as the intimacy and honesty of the novel. I'm excited to see how she brings that into her nonfiction as she reflects on an ongoing turbulent period of her life.
Diego Báez is looking forward to....
Ohio State University Press
In his lush and touching debut, Araujo maps Mexican American experiences across interior and exterior landscapes of the U.S. South.
Cardboard House Press
Mexican cyberartist Villeda meditates on the act and aftermaths of self-inflicted death.
Veliz Books
A decade in the making, Cuban writer Morales's collection of prose poems reflects on the transformations—and hesitations—Havana has undertaken since the "Special Period."
Laura Villareal is looking forward to....
Graywolf Press
Documentation of climate crisis and imaginings of our future ecological fallout have been on my mind as a writer. It's increasingly impossible to not observe the severe and strange weather. I'm grateful for writers like Mullen who are as the description says, considering, "our collective being, these poems address climate change, corporate greed, racist violence, artificial intelligence, the pollution of our oceans, individualism at the cost of mutual wellness, and the consequences of not addressing these pressing issues."
Ecco Press
I was fortunate enough to hear Mariah Rigg read an astonishing, enticing piece from this forthcoming collection at the 2024 Desert Nights, Rising Stars Conference. Extinction Capital of the World is definitely one to look out for if you enjoy story collections.
Copper Canyon Press
On my way to Newark, New Jersey where I'd spend the next 2 year completing an MFA, I stopped at Midtown Scholar in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. As I perused the shelves, I picked up a copy of Siken's first collection Crush. It was a pivotal reference as a young poet. I'm eager for Siken's latest, especially after hearing him read some of it.
Francisco Aragón is looking forward to....
Red Hen Press
I’ve been reading Adela’s work since 2004—the year I put together the anthology proposal for The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry (University of Arizona Press, 2007), in which six of her pieces appear. In 2015 Mouthfeel Press and Unsolicited Press put out Split Geography and Twice Told Over, respectively, volumes that treat what I’ve come to expect from a Najarro poem—an exploration of language within the context of her Nicaraguan heritage. But the work in Variations, in addition to being the most well crafted of her oeuvre, is also the most personal. You’ll see the indelible family portraits, including an ekphrastic one about a beloved gay uncle, but also poems that hint at being a survivor of domestic violence. And as she continues to engage with Nicaragua, particularly through its volcanos and Rubén Darío (the “Blue” in the title a clear reference to Darío’s groundbreaking hybrid volume from 1888, Azul), we continue to experience Najarro’s wonderful propensity, where language is concerned, to play.
When You Were Human
by Natalia Treviño
FlowerSong Press
I’ve known Natalia Treviño since 2006, when I met and befriended her at my first Macondo. In 2014 Mongrel Empire Press published her debut poemario, Lavando La Dirty Laundry. But in 2018, one notes a shift in Virgin X, the chapbook put out by Finishing Line Press, which features the striking cover image of the Virgin of Guadalupe sitting on a bed, doing needlework, which brings us to Treviño’s When You Were Human, forthcoming with FlowerSong. It’s a volume of verse dedicated to, in Natalia’s words, the “feminine divine,” one in which the speaker embarks on an epistemological journey that is historical, artistic, and finally spiritual. In this regard, Treviño was in her element at the recent conference at Notre Dame, “Ever Ancient, Every New: On Catholic Imagination.” In the book’s multiple sections, Treviño writes in the tradition of the apostrophe, the ekphrastic, in a combination of the two, as well as what she calls “American sonnets” before arriving, finally, at her own form of prayer and reverence.
Cloud Delfina Cardona is looking forward to....
Topography of a Borderline Bird
by Juania Sueños
Mouthfeel Press
I first met Juania Sueños at Texas State University, where we bonded over a love of zines, Chicana literature, and social justice. I am so excited for their debut book, Topograph of a Borderline Bird, coming out through Mouthfeel Press this fall. Her work evokes a piscean longing, speaks to a lineage family trauma, mental illness, all while playing with form. For a sneak peak, check out her poems, "I CHANGED MY NAME" in the New York Quarterly and "Recipe for Enchiladas Rojas" in Nat. Brut.
Plancha Press
For the past few months, I have enjoyed working with Jorge Antonio Renaud on his debut poetry chapbook, The Restlessness of Bound Wrists. Renaud's poems sprawl out, speaking to the realities of incarceration, addiction, and injustice. The Restlessness of Bound Wrists is a testimonio dedicated to all those who are incarcerated, who struggle with addiction, and who died due to state violence. Jorge's book is a must-read and I cannot wait for it to be out in the world. To learn more about Jorge, watch his feature on PBS News Hour.
Abode Press
Bilingual Bitch is Angelica Julia Dàvila's debut poetry chapbook, which explores what it means to be a bilingual poet. Dàvila digs into questions of Mexican ancestry, pop culture, identity, and representation. Bilingual Bitch breathes new life into these questions that many Mexican-Americans writers confront. Additionally, I was very lucky to create this cover for Dàvila!
by Amber Isaac
Fortune Teller Fish Press
I met Amber Isaac in a writing workshop at Texas State University. I immediately was drawn to their graphic tees and tendencies towards narrative writing in their poems. Peppermint is Amber's debut poetry collection, which has transformed over the years that I have read it. This collection is a bildungsroman, speaking truth to her upbringing in rural Missouri, coming into her queer identity, and later coming out again as a trans woman. Look out for her book this fall.
Scribner
I remember the first Steven Espada Dawson poem I read, "What I Hate Most About Mom." I was struck this title and the way he moves through his poems with such honesty. Every poem from Dawson feels this way, so I am very excited to dig into this collection.
CavanKerry Press
As a lover of Texan poetry, I am always looking for new writers and books to put on my radar. I was enthralled by Esteban's poetry collection Lotería, due to its concept of taking images from loteria cards and applying them to his own experiences. Read his poem, "22 La Mano" in the Nashville Review. Texan or not, all poetry lovers should pre-order Esteban's book.
by SG Huerta
SG Huerta is a writer on the rise. Good Grief is their third book and first nonfiction publication. Shortly after Good Grief came out, news broke that SG's debut full-length poetry collection, Burns, will be coming out from Sundress Publications in January 2026. Good Grief is a collection of flash essays that speak to inherited family trauma, bipolar disorder, abuse, addiction, and gender identity. Order your copy today!
Brent Ameneyro is looking forward to....
Washington Square Press
I'm excited about the unique lens used to shape the titular poem and what I imagine is the impetus for the collection. I first encountered the poem "Becoming Ghost" on the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day series.
Hub City Press
I first encountered Cloud's work while reading submissions for the Los Angeles Review, where I serve as the poetry editor alongside Lawrence DiStefano. I remember Lawrence and I immediately loving Cloud's poem "Self Portrait as an Anna Karina GIF at 17," which already received positive feedback from our team of readers prior to reaching us. I've now had the pleasure to know Cloud personally as we work together here at Letras Latinas.