Enjoying “Alba Blanca” the first poem in Fred Arroyo‘s collection Alba and Other Songs released from Gunpowder Press:

“My father hardly ever said a word to me.
He held his language, his family
his lovely garden so close
to his rolled up sleeves, so tight
within his fists, that words, I thought,
must be terrible….”

In Arroyo’s first poem, the reader experiences both the silences and “leather strap” violence within a father-son relationship. The words are raw and critical as much as they are tender for what might have been. Both moving and heartbreaking, Arroyo delivers each poem in the collection with English and Spanish versions, a delight for the reader. READ NOW

About Alba and Other Songs

Winner of the Alta California Chapbook Prize, Fred Arroyo‘s Alba and Other Songs is available in a bilingual edition. The series is edited by Emma Trelles.

“This lyrical and well-crafted chapbook has the breadth and substance of a full-length collection. Focusing on the said and unsaid, in an imagistic and incantatory style, Fred Arroyo has written an honest yet tender examination of a father-son relationship. Steeped in the nature of his barrio, Arroyo’s poems trace the borders of land and body to tell a story of family, exile, and belonging: “There are no boundaries / save the lines on maps. // There is no time / save the eye of memory.” —Alexandra Lytton Regalado, Final Judge, Alta California Prize 

About Fred Arroyo

Rae Cline

Rae Cline is the author of the short story collection The Indefinite State of Imaginary Morals (Patasola Press, NY). Her debut novel is forthcoming from 7.13 Books in spring 2026. Her stories, essays, and poetry have appeared in print and online at The Paris Review, The Missouri Review, McSweeney’s, DIAGRAM, North American Review, Gargoyle and more. Her fiction and creative nonfiction have won prizes, scholarships and fellowships from Johns Hopkins, American University, Aspen Writers Foundation and North American Review. She earned an M.A. in Writing at Hopkins and received her M.F.A. in Fiction and Creative Nonfiction from American University, where she was the recipient of the Starr and Sartwell scholarships. She has lectured on campuses and other venues including Hopkins, American University, the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, St. Mary’s College of Maryland and others. She is the founding editor of Eckleburg and is represented by Jennifer Carlson with Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary Agency. Read more at raecline.com.