The first novel by master poet, Pushcart nominee, winner of the American Book Award, Colorado Book Award, and recipient of the prestigious Colorado Council on the Arts Fellowship. Rise, Do Not Be Afraid is a compelling, intertwined story of a small New Mexico town and its people, the presence of shadowy gods, and the heart of human nature. These fantastical and almost whimsical tales are based in myth and biblical traditions, and the characters are rooted deeply in the past, returning to pass down the truth of their town-Santa Rita, New Mexico. Through the eyes and mouths of abeyta's characters, we are carried through a private and deeply personal history. aaron a. abeyta's allegorical retelling of his childhood past, woven in with his own beliefs and mythologies, brings an adventurous tone to history. Rise, Do Not Be Afraid is a lyrical and adamant prayer for redemption and salvation in a time where there is none to be spared."Original, creative, inclusive, imaginative . abeyta's craftsmanship and artistry is clear. Pick a line, any line, and you will be swept away by the rhythm and meter and metaphor."-Laura Pritchett, winner of the PEN USA Award and author of Stars Go Blue"There is no other voice that conjures the sky and keeps count of stars as human migrations, moving, fading, and bursting anew as abeyta's."-Juan Felipe Herrera, former United States Poet Laureate

Rise, Do Not Be Afraid

For a moment, the world stood still. .but our people were forced to stand alone.  And in the midst of this darkness, one Colorado group decided to use art to heal broken hearts. As mandatory stay-at-home orders continued, it became clear that the Coronavirus pandemic would not surrender anytime soon. Feelings of trepidation and sadness spread like wildfire, and our people grew weary and afraid. That's when the Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Western Colorado University created "The Great Isolation Writing Contest, " to take away some of the powerlessness that some were feeling. Seventeen winners of that competition are represented in this anthology. Writers from different disciplines-nature writing, screenwriting, poetry, and genre fiction-expressed their responses to a world we could no longer understand. And all were gathered and published in a new volume by the Publishing students at Western. Each entry in this collection is innovative and brings us through emotions that range from exciting, to funny, to reflective. And just as The Decameron became the literary voice of the 14th century's black plague, so too "The Great Isolation" is our collective answer to the 21st century pandemic.  We are, it seems, in this aloneness together.

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