Another Desert:

Jewish Poetry of New Mexico

edited by Joan Logghe and Miriam Sagan

reviewed by Gloria Trujillo

Another Desert: Jewish Poetry of New Mexico edited by Joan Logghe and Miriam Sagan. (Sherman Asher Publishing, P0 Box 2853, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504-2853. 174 pages, $15, 00, paperback.)

Once I picked up “Another Desert" to read, I could not put it down. The book is an intriguing and moving anthology collection of eighty-six poems. The introduction briefly covers the history of New Mexico, beginning with the descendants of the Crypto-Jews, and including the arrival of German Jewish merchants. There is now a new wave of Jewish adventurers that has found inspiration in the breathtaking open spaces of New Mexico.

The book's five sections, Diaspora, Holy Days and Blessings, Ancestors, Kaddish, and Conversos, weave ancient Jewish traditions and other past experiences into their faith and life in New Mexico. The Poets come from the community of talented Jewish writers in New Mexico. Some of the contributors include Joan Logghe, Natalie Goldberg, Miriam Sagan, Elmo Mondragon, Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, EImo Mondragon, Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, and Isabelle Medina Sandoval.

Nine of Isabelle Sandoval's original poems are found in the Converso section. Isabelle has been a presenter at several of our conferences, and those of you who have heard her read her poetry know that she writes with her own unique voice. In her poems, she writes of her profound love of New Mexico and the uncovering of her rich and hidden Jewish past. One poem, Contemporary Inquisition is a good example of how she views the world, and how the interaction of others affects her life.

Dr. Stanley Hordes wrote the forward notes, and the cover artist is a well-known New Mexico artist, Diana Bryer. Diana's two illustrations Backroom Ritual , and Rabbi Lynn are featured on the front and back covers of the book.