My Kill Adore Him

Paul Martínez Pompa

Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize

My Kill Adore Him is a collection of poems from Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize-winner Paul Martínez Pompa. The book’s title is a homophonic translation of the Spanish word maquiladora, which translates into English as “factory” or “sweatshop.” With a unique, independent voice, Martínez Pompa interrogates masculinity, race, language, consumerism, and cultural identity in poems that honor los olvidados, the forgotten ones, who range from the usual suspects brutalized by police to factory workers poisoned by their environment, from the victim of a homophobic beating in the boys’ bathroom to the body of Juan Doe at the Cook County Coroner’s Office. Some of the poems rely on somber, at times brutal, imagery to articulate a political stance while others use sarcasm and irony to deconstruct political stances themselves.

Paul Martínez Pompa teaches composition and creative writing at Triton College in River Grove, Illinois. His chapbook, Pepper Spray, was published in 2006.

“This is one tough, smart poet. The poems of Paul Martínez Pompa are gritty and visceral, but never cross the line into sensationalism. They are poems that vividly evoke the urban world, especially Chicago, without ever lapsing into urban cliché. They are poems that seek justice for the Latino community without ever resorting to the overheated language that all too often consigns poetry of social conscience to oblivion.” — Martín Espada, 2008 Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize judge

Reviews

”. . . My Kill Adore Him is an exciting and tough collection of very well-composed and accessible poems. It’s been a while since I tore through a book of poetry and really enjoyed the read. . . .” — Harriet, a Poetry Foundation blog

“There is so much more going on in this book . . . My Kill Adore Him is an exciting and tough collection of very well-composed and accessible poems. It’s been a while since I tore through a book of poetry and really enjoyed the read.” —Harriet: A blog from the Poetry Foundation, August 28, 2009

“_My Kill Adore Him_ is a collection of poetry from Paul Martinez Pompa focusing on the issues of masculinity, race, and who people are. . . . An entertaining and thought provoking work, highly recommended.” — The Midwest Book Review

“Martinez Pompa’s collection engages the urban landscape and how its cultural and historical legacies extended south into the border and Mexico itself. . . . As a first collection, My Kill Adore Him . . . is definitely a find, with its impressive range of Latino literary influences, from Herrera to Andres Montoya, to Martin Espada. With such poetic energy and intensity in one book, there’s no doubt that Martinez Pompa’s next collection will engrave him on the literary map.” — El Paso Times