Anita Endrezze

Anita Endrezze is a writer, poet, teacher, and artist of Native American (Yaqui, Pima, Maya) and European descent. She has a Master of Arts Degree in Creative Writing from Eastern Washington University. Her writing has appeared in many literary magazines and in dozens of anthologies, such as Carriers of the Dream Wheel, Harper’s Anthology of Twentieth Century Native American Poetry, Reinventing the Enemy’s Language, Talking Leaves, Blue Dawn, Red Earth, Earth Song, Sky Spirit, and a book of autobiographical essays, Here First. She is the author of eight books including the short story collection, Butterfly Moon (University of Arizona Press, 2012), Throwing Fire at the Sun, Water at the Moon (University of Arizona Press, 2000), at the helm of twilight (Broken Moon Press, 1992), Bjerget og Skystaanden (CD-Forlag, 1986), and Lune d’Ambre (Rougerie, 1991).

Praise for AnitA Endrezze & Enigma

Anita Endrezze is a national treasure. I have been devoted to her work for decades and consider her a personal hero. Any book by her is important: this volume is priceless.

—Luis Alberto Urrea, author of The House of Broken Angels

This marvelous, mysterious collection of poems opens with this dedication: to my family . . . to the crows. Enigma, the perfect title; each poem holding a mystery in her womb. From the title poem, “There is a paradox / in the water washing / the dead child / for the afterlife.” In the opening poem, “The Wall,” Trump’s lusted-after trophy border wall is passionately, furiously, beautifully described as “topped not by barbed wire but sprouting / avocado seeds, those Aztec testicles”; then “stack it thick as blood, which has mingled / for centuries, la vida. / Create a 2,000-mile altar, lit with votive candles / for those who have crossed over . . .” Each poem takes the reader deeper into the enigma’s mystery, her womb. “Iridescent crows, you are The Bird / as we are The Rainbow People.” I agree. Mystery solved. These are poems to dream by, each one.

—Alma Luz Villanueva, author of Song of the Golden Scorpion and Gracias

Enigma is a stunning collection that works like good medicine. Endrezze is fiercely honest, bravely facing the terrors of history and our present world, but suffusing her vision with profound love. Her poems create a survivor's trail that can lead us back to sanity. Astonishing language and images greet us on every page. I will return to the intoxicating songs of this volume again and again, to sustain me in dark moments, reminding me of all that is worth saving.

—Mona Power, author of Sacred Wilderness