While Carlos Cortéz may ultimately be better remembered for his linocut and woodcut graphics than for his verse, he exhibits some of the same virtues in the visual and the verbal media; it may indeed be said that in some ways Cortéz translates radical Mexican traditions into populist verse. His graphics, often augmented with words, are striking, bold, and direct, as are his poems. In an unpublished January 1988 interview he said, "The social forces of repression and the consequent forces of rebellion have long influenced my writing as well as . . . other forms of expression."

Parental influence and early experience during the Depression and World War II led to his joining the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). An awareness of Cortéz's participation in the IWW, or "Wobblies," is central to understanding his graphics, his poetry, and above all his contribution to Chicano...