The Anchored Angel: Selected Writings by Jose Garcia Villa

Kaya is proud to present The Anchored Angel: Selected Writings by Jose Garcia Villa, a collection of poetry and prose by the celebrated Filipino American writer, edited by Eileen Tabios and with a foreword by Jessica Hagedorn. At the height of his career, in the forties and fifties, Villa's writings earned him prizes, fellowships, and lavish praise from such literary luminaries as Edith Sitwell, Marianne Moore, e. e. cummings, W. H. Auden, and Mark Van Doren. Yet, his work has been out of the public eye for more than thirty years, and out of print for more than fifteen. Although named a National Artist in the Philippines where he was born, Villa remains largely unknown here in the United States, where his reputation among the elite of modernist experimental poets was made.Kaya's republication of Villa's writings both recovers and rediscovers the work of this fierce iconoclast for a new generation. Included are reprints of his major poems and representatives from each of his significant experiments, as well as short stories, critical work, and paintings. A critical component of the book are essays by contemporary Filipino and Filipino American writers including: Luis Cabalquinto, Nick Carbo, Jonathan Chua, Luis Francia, Nick Joaquin, E. San Juan, and Alfred Yuson. New force in the Asian American literary world, Eileen Tabios, has edited the volume, and Jessica Hagedorn, celebrated poet, novelist, and playwright, contributes a thoughtful foreword.