In this book, Steven Schneider’s poetry employs the technique of ekphrasis, which are poems about art. His inspirations are the moving portraits done by his wife, Reefka Schneider, of people who live and work along the U.S.-Mexico border. The poems, which celebrate the region’s culture but do not ignore the economic realities of many of its citizens, have been elegantly translated into Spanish by Jose Antonio Rodriguez. In this author interview, the couple describe how this project, which began as part of Reefka’s healing process from a serious car accident, became first a traveling art exhibit, and then a beautiful book published by Wings Press.
Steven Schneider’s writing career has taken him from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop in Iowa City to the University of Texas-Pan America, where he is a Professor of English and Director of New Programs and Special Projects for the College of Arts and Humanities, and many places in between. His publishing credits are wide-ranging and include two previously published books of poems, many scholarly essays, and a treatise on A.R. Ammons.
Reefka Schneider is one of the foremost artists of “la frontera,” the binational region of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Some of the portraits from this book have been published in the Afro-Hispanic Review and elsewhere. Ms. Schneider has exhibited throughout the region.
Wings Press publishes multi-cultural books and other publications with a goal of enlightening the human spirit and is dedicated to the preservation of the literature of Texas and all of the Americas.
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