Allegiances

Drawn from her own MFA thesis, Beato’s chapbook gives voice to allegiances of family, citizen and ultimately, personal identity. Much of Beato’s work resists the structures and oppressive nature of nationalism, but it also affirms some of the most essential, often marginalized, elements of American identity. Woven with images from Beato’s own family history, Allegiances reminds us of promises that America has broken, and others that we dare not forget. In the words of Queens College, CUNY MFA director Nicole Cooley, “Sylvia Beato’s Allegiances is a book of beautiful energy, wide ranging imagination, and deep political commitment. And most of all Allegiances is a book about loyalty and love.” Queens College professor Roger Sedarat said of Beato’s book, “With language committed to historicizing and destabilizing the oppressive horrors of nationalism, this debut collection urgently asserts the voices of those so threatened with silence.”