Known as the “poet laureate de Aztlán” and called “the grandfather of Chicano literature” in his 2004 obituary in The New York Times, Abelardo “Lalo” Delgado used his words to fight for justice and equal opportunity for people of Mexican descent living in the United States. Now available for the first time to mainstream audiences, Delgado’s poems are included in a landmark volume, HERE LIES LALO: THE COLLECTED WORKS OF ABELARDO DELGADO.
A twelve-year-old when he emigrated from northern Mexico to El Paso, Texas, Delgado’s development as a poet and writer coincided with the Chicano Civil Rights movement, and so his poems both reflect the suffering of the oppressed and are a call to action. Written between 1969 and 2001, the works are in Spanish, English, and a hybrid of both languages. While many of his poems protest mistreatment and discrimination, especially as experienced by farm workers, many others focus on love of family and for the land and traditions of his people.
Delgado wrote and self-published 14 books of poetry—none of which are available today—and five of them are included in this long-awaited volume. These poems by a pioneering Chicano poet and revolutionary are a must-read for anyone interested in the Chicano Civil Rights movement and the origins of Chicano literature.