The Canción Cannibal Cabaret

Book excerpt: Poetry. Latinx Studies. Native American Studies. Women's Studies. LGBTQIA Studies. Chicana Studies. Winner of a 2020 American Book Award in Oral Literature. THE CANCIÓN CANNIBAL CABARET & OTHER SONGS is a hybrid manuscript experimenting with poetry at the intersection of performance. As a text, it is a collection of post-apocalyptic prose poems and poem songs cannibalizing knowledge from before the fall of civilization. In performance, THE CANCIÓN CANNIBAL CABARET is a Xicana punk rock musical--part concept album, part radio play. Set in a not-so-distant dystopian future, La Madre Valiente, a refugee raised under the oppressive State, studies secretly to become the leader of a feminist revolution. Her emissaries, Las Hijas de la Madre, roam the land spreading her story, educating others, and galvanizing allies. Inspired by current issues of social injustice, this multidisciplinary musical performance piece is a refugee, people of color, feminist, and LGBTQ+ call to action.