Rosemary Catacalos writes works that combine Greek mythology and Mexican-American folklore. Her poetry, a paean to her ancestry, is especially effective in Again for the First Time (1984), a collection she wrote over a ten-year span. (All the poems in As Long as It Takes, a chapbook also published in 1984, are included in Again for the First Time.) Catacalos incorporates themes, styles of language, and types of lyricism that bring to mind works by the Mexican writer Rosario Castellanos and the Argentine Alfonsina Storni. Catacalos has earned an international reputation, yet her poetry is not as well known as that of some other Chicana writers. Much of this lack of attention is due to Catacalos's resistance to being part of the "poetry scene" and her commitment to letting her work speak for itself. However, she has gradually begun to read her work in public more often and to become...