Desert Hawk Books

 

Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth, & My Mother

Rita Maria Magdaleno

 

105 pages
6.125" x 9"
Paperback

 

"A striking collection of poetry, one that rewards repeated readings. . . . With lyrical language and a fearless heart, Magdaleno probes her (and our) past, and we are the wiser for it. This book complicates our views of ethnicity, of cultural identity, of our nation's history." —John Bradley

"I am moved by the reach, the pitch and intensity of Magdaleno's poetics. . . . A welcome set of new directions." —Juan Felipe Herrera

"Rita Magdaleno—of ‘mixed blood’ that her SS uncle ‘would have spilled without hesitation’—writes narratives and lyrics of integrity, honesty and tenderness, where the personal, historical and political are seamlessly engaged. This is a poetry of passion, compassion, astounding imagery and riveting emotional courage." —Laure-Anne Bosselaar

Her blood is both Aryan and Aztec and runs as deep as the waters between two worlds.

Rita Magdaleno was born near Dachau shortly after World War II to a German mother and a Mexican American GI. Her family moved to Arizona in 1947, and Rita was raised with her father's traditions—but she remains at heart a child of two cultures.

This poetic memoir, recalling Magdaleno's return to the land of her birth, is an intertwining of personal and public history, bridging continents and cultures in search of family secrets. Her poems recall a mother "Marlene Dietrich pretty, / her smoky voice / & those wide Aryan / eyes that promised / never to lie," a war bride who named her child after a Hollywood movie star even before casting eyes on America. They also offer a new, intimate view of the war—and of today's reunified Germany—and show that the consequences of events played out half a century ago continue to resonate with the children of that era.

Magdaleno navigates currents of emotion that would drown less capable poets. With patience, courage, and abiding love, she draws on memories of mother and motherland to show us that healing can come in many forms.

Rita Magdaleno's poetry has appeared in ¡Floricanto Sí!: A Collection of Latina Poetry and her fiction in Walking the Twilight: Women Writers of the Southwest. She lives in Tucson.