Author C.T. Perez’s “Signs of Being,” a collection of poetry, prose, and commentary, explores CHamoru cultural identity through the lens of ec(h)o literature, or literature that interprets signs in the natural environment as echoes from ancestors, according to the University of Guam Press, which will hold a book launching on Dec.
13. For Perez, this collection is a heartfelt attempt to articulate the unexplainable—the essence of CHamoru consciousness and spirit. “It’s an effort to reach that level of expression of what is in the heart and the soul of a terminal being,” Perez said in a statement.
“I’m facing closer to passing than I am to living. I’ve lived more than half my life and I’m quite comfortable saying that. It’s beautiful to age.
It’s hard. It’s a challenge, but we could say the same for CHamoru people—that we survived the many challenges and struggles, but we also are in the joy of life and the joy of being.” Perez has appeared in Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia, Indigenous Women: The Right to a Voice, among other collections, and is considered by many a foregrounding voice in CHamoru famalao’an (women) poetry.
“Signs of Being” is the second and final title published through UOG Press’s Famalao’an Poets Project that seeks to amplify and celebrate poetry written by CHamoru women. The project is made possible through the support of an Equity in Verse grant awarded to the Press by the Poetry Foundation, an independent l.