jo reyes-boitel is a queer, mixed Latinx poet, playwright, and scholar, having just completed their MFA at the University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley where they served as a Presidential Research Fellow and taught undergraduate creative writing courses. Their publications include Michael + Josephine (FlowerSong Press, 2019), the chapbook mouth (Neon Hemlock, 2021), the matchstick litanies (Next Page Press, 2023) and, forthcoming, the impracticality of silk (Gnashing Teeth Press, 2024). jo has also written and produced "she wears bells", a hybrid opera, which was a finalist in Guerilla Opera's 2022 virtual festival. jo is a fellow of Macondo and VoNA/Voices of Our Nations.

Other poems on the web by jo reyes-boitel:
"Flashes"
Three poems
Two poems

jo reyes-boitel's Website.

jo reyes-boitel on Twitter.

About the matchstick litanies:

"the matchstick litanies hold the power to burn it all down, but they are wise survivors, weaving a poetics of witness and experience into an exceptional and necessary testimonio. The collection makes room for frogs and stars in its cinematography and for lyric leaps in its score to 'bring the spirit back to the body' without 'false sunrise' and with conocimiento. jo reyes-boitel is a master storyteller of the past and present with a keen eye on the future, which is an act of love for us all in need of this sabiduría. "
—Emmy Pérez

"What might it mean to be in relation as husband and wife, as brother and sister, mother and daughter, father and daughter, as one wedded to the sky above and the surrounding landscape? In the matchstick litanies, jo reyes-boitel is an attentive poet-observer telling us the answers rest in the nucleus of a family haunted by hurt. In this family men inherit pain, control pain, and bequeath its violence while women labor and exist at their mercy. Despite the wreckage, it is reyes-boitel's lyrical crafting of brief pastoral moments—mesquite trees passed on a winter's drive home or the 'constant bird caws, the constant sun'—that provide both poet and reader not escape from familial combustion, but a momentary solace."
—Niki Herd

"Through the darkness of so many of these poems, jo's resilient and beautiful voice resonates with longing and love for their subject. Haunting and memorable, these poems will linger in your mind and soul. Family, childhood, complicated and difficult relationships reside here. The poet tends to their language with great care. Often these palpable images and lines will leave you breathless. reyes-boitel is an important poet, this book will alight your dreams and expectations!"
—Virgil Suárez