FloWer WARS
“These fine poems are composed but not mechanical, historical and personal, musical but with the wild yearning of punk rock. Above all, these poems are generous.” - Rain Taxi Review
Flower Wars explores histories -- real and imagined, personal and generational -- in an attempt to reconcile the contradictions in the author's experience as queer, trans and Latinx. It’s available through Newfound Press and is the recipient of the Anzaldúa Poetry Prize for work that examines how place shapes identity, imagination and understanding. Cover by LK James.
“Nico Amador's language is luminous and intimate. He's pared down his lines to essential syllables, which sing and shine. His work reminds us that every path in life is strewn with dolor and shadows. Sorrow sings and shines, too. Yet, after reading these poems, I felt less lonely—I felt more alive. The poems in 'Flower Wars' are memorable, beautiful, and curative.”
- Eduardo Corral
“'Flower Wars' is an otherworldly, vulnerable, astonishing ode to the process of metamorphosis. ‘We make our homes in the dark,’ writes Amador, and he shows us how, with startling lyric and a ferocity that, through his craftsmanship, transmutes the reader to a state of grace. This collection is an indispensable oracle for all of us learning to listen to what we have lost, to the living that ravels and multiplies in its stead.”
- Cynthia Dewi Oka