Vessels: A Memoir of Borders by Michelle Otero
“There are borders other than those between countries, borders between man and woman, sanity and madness, living and dead. These borders shift.” Vessels dwells in the borderlands. From this place, Michelle Otero turns to the seven directions and calls on Coyolxauhqui, Malinche, and her ancestors to answer the question, How do we put ourselves back together? Through memory, ceremonia, and testimonio, Vessels guides the reader through the long shadows of war, trauma, and death, lighting the way with the promise of wholeness and healing.
Original art for cover by Anel Flores
Michelle Otero is the author of Bosque: Poems and the essay collection Malinche’s Daughter. She served as Albuquerque Poet Laureate from 2018-2020 and co-edited the forthcoming New Mexico Poetry Anthology 2023 and 22 Poems and a Prayer for El Paso, a tribute to victims of the 2019 El Paso shooting and winner of a New Mexico-Arizona Book Award. A coach, community-based artist, and racial healing practitioner, she is the founder of ArteSana Creative Consulting, dedicated to creative expression and storytelling as the basis for organizational development and positive social change. Originally from Deming, New Mexico, Otero holds a BA in history from Harvard College and an MFA in creative writing from Vermont College. She is a member of the Macondo Writers Workshop.