"Self love. Power.
Shamelessness. Sexual curiosity. All of these are elements of
the erotic that alejandra ibarra invokes in these poems. They
speak to a yearning, a jonesin', a hunger that feeds Chicana spirituality
and sexuality. The poems in this collection are located at the
crux of experience, imagination and expression... Their lyricism
invokes the rhythm of the clave beat, as well as the repetition
of a lover's whispers...ibarra creates new models for talking
about love within Chicana feminist discourse. Santa Perversa is
one incarnation of a new subjectivity."
- From the Forward
by Eliza Rodriguez y Gibson.
alejandra ibarra, aka reina a. prado, is notoriously known as a seductive poetess throughout the Southwest. Graduate school prompted a need to express a repressed voice of desire. Through her poetry she challenges the taboos imposed on Chicana/Latina women by delving into the realm of the erotic. Her poems arouse the deepest desires locked in our psyche. Since her debut as a poet at Diva Delights, Performing Arts Center, California State University, Northridge, she has presented her work at: The 1999 San Jose Floricanto Festival; ReGen Salon July 1999 along with artist Olivia Armas; and has shared her work with intimate audiences in the Bay Area, Washington D.C. and Tucson. She recently finished post graduate work at USC and is currently working on her dissertation