La Carreta Made a U-Turn was the first book published by Arte Público Press. Its impact was so great that almost immediately upon publication it was the subject of a forty-page article in the respected journal Daedalus. Over the years, it has also been the subject of numerous reviews and literary studies, and Tato Laviera has become almost synonymous with Nuyorican/Hispanic and bilingual literature. Laviera has produced three other successful books of poems, all published by Arte Público Press. Since 1979, La Carreta Made a U-Turn is the most popular and most widely read book of poetry by a U.S. Hispanic Author.
“[This is] a clear and refreshing note of affirmation, humaneness, joy and vigor in the face of poverty, alienation and oppression. Tato Laviera has produced a remarkably varied first book of poems.” -Explorations in Ethnic Studies
“The overall impression, despite the strategic shift from one language to the other, is one of almost undetectably fluid transition, and from the standpoint of either language tradition, of a qualitative expansion of idiomatic resources.” -Daedalus
JESUS “TATO” LAVIERA (1950-2013) was a poet, playwright, novelist and community advocate. Born in Puerto Rico, he was raised in the Manhattan’s Lower East Side, or Loisaida. He is generally acknowledged to be the best selling Hispanic poet in the United States. He performed his works all over the U.S., the Caribbean, Europe and Africa. His books include La Carreta Made a U-Turn; Enclave, winner of the American Book Award; AmeRícan; Mainstream Ethics; and Mixturao and Other Poems, and Bendición: The Complete Poetry of Tato Laviera, all published by Arte Público Press. His plays have been produced in Chicago and New York City, and have been staged at The New Federal Theater, The Public Theater, the Delcourt Theatre in Central Park, Circle in the Square, and Theatro Cuatro.
