Craig Santos Perez

I first picked up From Unincorporated Territory: Åmot after seeing it on a library display, knowing nothing about it other than I liked the unique layout of the poems. Through beautiful poetry, it details Craig Santos Perez's experiences in Guam and mainland United States as a CHamoru person, and bits of Guam's history.

The non-traditional layout of the poems and interlacing of the CHamoru language forces the reader to slow down and intentionally take in what is being said. It is not a book show more to breeze through, but one to piece together like a puzzle, slowly taking in individual aspects of it and working to put it together until you can see the bigger picture.

Because of this book, I would now very much like to learn more about the history of Guam, as well as read the other From Unincorporated Territory books, then come back and re-read this one when I've done more learning. show less

A unique collection of poetry that is deeply embedded in the author's background that has for many generations lived on the island of Guam in the South Pacific.The poems range from the period of Spanish conquest to when the land was taken over by Japan during World War Two, to their "rescue" by allies troops. Perez teaches us much about the unique culture and language of Gum in his varied poems. I can see why the collection received all the acclaim that it did.