Makeshift Altar

Makeshift Altar depicts what's lost in miscommunication or, worse yet, when no one utters a sound, telling us what we can learn from hallowed or broken bodies, soil and ocean, mothers and daughters, animals and men. Alvarez has reverence—for house, home and most things considered unholy, outcast, and ordinary. The past haunts us relentlessly, and she leans into that haunting in this work, reminding us '[a]ny version of home must begin/from the outside in.'

~Ramica Bingham-Risher, Cave Canem fellow, Affrilachian poet, and award-winning author of Soul Culture: Black Poets, Books, and Questions That Grew Me Up

Makeshift Altar is required reading—rich, tender, and eloquent. Alvarez explores culture, heritage, family, and belonging. By the end of this collection, I felt like I was part of the mountains "skirting the continent of what is." Once I picked this book up, I could not put it down. It is the birthing ground for fresh images and answers to the difficult questions. Alvarez has made a way for us where there was none. Her words will not cuddle. Instead, they gently push and make one reach for higher ground. She invites us to come "let our survivor's bones grow fat with sweet

~Cheryl Boyce-Taylor, author of The Limitless Heart: New and Selected Poems