SOURCE: A review of Emplumada, in American Book Review, Vol. 4, No.5 July/August, 1982, pp.11-12

In the following review, Whyatt considers Cervantes's poetry both simple and complex and maturely descriptive.

Freeways, cactus, factory towns, rattlesnakes, heat, the dusty land of big sky: California and the American Southwest; this is Lorna Dee Cervantes' personal “barrio,” her community of nature, poverty, animistic gods, eccentric amigos, racism and first love. As such, Emplumada (meaning “feathered” or “pen”) is a highly picaresque, image-packed regional guide, specific to the experiences of a young Chicana/American poet whose work, though rooted in contemporary American poetry, reflects the unique voice of her heritage.

Last year's winner of the Pitt Series, Cervantes' first book establishes her as a poet to watch; when she's at her best the poems give off an infectious energy remarkably free from artifice and intellectuality, and yet deceptively intelligent. She writes autobiographically...