Jorge Agueta, a reading: Tay Naja Nitajtaketzki Achtu Tik Nawat / Mis Primeras Palabras En Nahuat / My First Words in Nahuat

Jorge Agueta, a reading: Tay Naja Nitajtaketzki Achtu Tik Nawat / Mis Primeras Palabras En Nahuat / My First Words in Nahuat

Saladoran poet Jorge Argueta, who came to San Francisco in the 1980s at the age of 19 during his home country's civil war. He grew up in Santo Domingo de Guzmán El Salvador, where his grandmother, an indigenous healer, told him stories from his indigenous heritage and their belief in a human-nature connection, instilling in him great respect for the environment and appreciation for oral tradition. He spent time in the city helping his parents run a small restaurant as well as in the countryside, helping his grandparents tend to their farm, before coming to America.He has written numerous children's books, short stories as well as poems that have been included in textbooks and anthologies. His children's books are written in poetry form, in two languages (English and Spanish), and reflect the Latino experience and heritage; he also writes about the Nahuat Pipil and their deep appreciation and respect for nature. His adult poems cover themes of the hardships of growing up in El Salvador during wartime and the difficulties experienced by immigrants in the United States.He's coming to Bird & Beckett to present his latest book, Tay Naja Nitajtaketzki Achtu Tik Nawat / Mis Primeras Palabras En Nahuat / My First Words in Nahuat, published by House of Anansi Press, iIllustrated by: El Aleph Sánchez; translations by Juan Valentín Ramírez  Garcia and translated by: Elizabeth Bell.