For beloved writer and mentor Francisco X. Alarcon, the collection Snake Poems: An Aztec Invocation was a poetic quest to reclaim a birthright. Originally published in 1992, the book propelled Alarcon to the forefront of contemporary Chicano letters.
Inspired by one of the few existing treatises on the culture of Nahuatl--the Indian language primarily spoken by the Aztec--Snake Poems, by award-winning poet Francisco X. Alarcon, represents the first time a contemporary writer has returned to the Aztec heritage, empowering himself not only as a translator and commentator but as a medium in the tradition of the poet as a shaman.