My Name Is Romero is the third full-length collection of poetry by Mexican-American poet and spoken word artist David A. Romero. In a world mispronouncing his name, or trying to define it for him, Romero digs through his family history, his childhood memories, and stories of working people, to create his own meaning for his family's name. In the process, Romero challenges his own prejudices as well as those of outsiders, as to what it means to be Mexican-American and Latinx. My Name Is Romero ranges from the political to the personal, with a scope both intimate and epic. My Name Is Romero also includes a discussion guide for conversations around its themes of belonging and exclusion, racism and solidarity.
 
My Name Is Romero features original cover art by Sonia Romero (Cheech Marin Collection and Smithsonian) with advance reviews by Gustavo Arellano (¡Ask a Mexican! and Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America), Curtis Marez (University Babylon and Farm Worker Futurism: Speculative Technologies of Resistance), Ulises Bella (multi-instrumentalist, founding member of Ozomatli), Yolanda Nieves (associate professor at Wilbur Wright College, founder of Vida Bella Ensemble), Mike "The Poet" Sonksen (author of Letters to My City and I Am Alive in Los Angeles), and Ana Maria Alvarez (founding artistic director of CONTRA-TIEMPO urban Latin dance theater company).
 
Copies ordered from this store are signed by David A. Romero. They also include free business card sized magnets featuring the original cover art by Sonia Romero!
 
My Name Is Romero is published by FlowerSong Press of McAllen, TX. We encourage you to support his fellow FlowerSong authors. 
 
 
 
 
Advance Reviews:
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"Say his name: Romero. A vibrant Southern California voice whose evocative lines on the East L.A. Classic, burritos, immigration, love, and life sparkle as much as 4th of July fireworks in the 'hood."
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- Gustavo Arellano, ¡Ask a Mexican!
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"At turns lyrical and epic; bitingly funny and achingly melancholic, this shining collection of poems beautifully expresses how so many of us live now--wrestling with language and identity, history and politics. Welcome to the new Latinx poetics."
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- Curtis Marez, University Babylon: Film and Race Politics on Campus
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"Ni de aquí, ni de allá (not from here, not from there) is a saying and a dynamic that many of us Latinx/Chicano/Hispanic people struggle with. David tackles this theme and the complexities of how this mindset effects not only the personal, but also our role, or perceived roles, in modern America."
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- Ulises Bella, Ozomatli
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"It's an informed, intrepid, and at times, painful revelation of thoughts and dialogue that lie unspoken in our brains and amongst many Latin@/xs, and in Latin@/x communities."
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- Yolanda Nieves, Vida Bella Ensemble
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"My Name Is Romero is David A. Romero's open letter to the world, excavating his personal history while explicating his identity."
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- Mike Sonksen, Letters to My City
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"My Name Is Romero is so rich and layered! Romero has so many ideas flowing!"
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- Ana Maria Alvarez, CONTRA-TIEMPO
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Review Excerpts:
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"Romero’s distinct talent lies in his staccato cadence and his singular ability to balance humor and pathos, alongside devastating political critique."
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- Charles Kell, Ocean State Review
 
"With a direct speaking style that either implicates the reader in each poem or draws them in to witness his experience, [Romero] dishes out a full course meal on identity formation."
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- Maggie Rue Hess, Grist – A Journal of The Literary Arts
 
"Romero is dedicated to exploring the complexity of family membership by looking at it culturally and socially, looking at family duty, and understanding that while he claims that which is powerfully good about his history, he also must own the failings of his lineage."
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-  John Brantingham, Cultural Daily
 
"Romero places his heart on his sleeve and himself on display to great effect. The rhythm infused between the lines also helps add a punch – a force – that is easy to appreciate and difficult to replicate."
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-  Callum Clarke, Literary Cultures
 
"Charting family history through poetry is an attempt to understand the inner meaning of being a Mexican in America; that is, of living in a country that undermines people of colour and minorities to the point of overt discrimination."
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- Carla Scarano D'Antonio, The/temz /Review
 
"If not for the ink on the page, a reader could forget they are reading poetry and not listening to a friend speak of their experiences as a Mexican-American."
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- Kat Heger, NōD Magazine
 
"Romero is another important voice that continues to expose the erasure of the history of struggle and progressive individual acts of validation and resistance of Latin@/x communities."
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- Yolanda Nieves, North American Review
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My Name Is Romero is carried at independent retailers and establishments:
 
Skylight Books, Stories Books & Café, Tia Chucha's, Barbara's Bookstores (Chicago, IL), Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (San Antonio, TX), Literarity Bookshop (El Paso, TX), Village Well Books & Coffee, The Book Jewel, Medicine for Nightmares, Re/Arte, Centro Cultural de la Raza, Café con Libros, SideShow Books, Book Alley, Small World Books, BookMonster, Century Books, Bank of Books, The Sims Library of Poetry, and MoBar Café.
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My Name Is Romero is sold at Barnes & Noble locations:
 
Aliso Viejo, Burbank, Calabasas, Carmel Mountain, Chino Hills, Encinitas, Escondido, Fullerton, Glendale, Glendora, Grossmont Center, The Grove, Hazard Center, Long Beach, Manhattan Beach, Marina del Rey, Mira Mesa, Montclair, Oceanside, Orange, Palmdale, Point Loma, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Santee, Studio City, Temecula, Thousand Oaks, Torrance, Tustin, Valencia, and Ventura.