“Out of the squishy swamp of dead personal lyrics that is contemporary American poetry, Gil Fagiani’s poems in A Blanquito in El Barrio in East Harlem are crafty narratives that sing the music of sex, compassion, friendship, justice, mercy, comedy, betrayal... Fagiani is a poet of unusual power. These poems have strong heart and deep soul. A Blanquito in El Barrio is that rare good thing—a necessary good book.”
        --Angelo Verga, author of A Hurricane Is, 33 NYC Poems, and Praise For What Remains.

“Gil Fagiani writes of his love for Spanish Harlem during the late 1960s and his profound connection to its residents. His affection for Latino culture rings out in poems that pay homage to such great musicians as Ray Barretto, Tito Puente, La Lupe, and Arsenio Rodriguez. This is an honest, gripping and deeply personal collection.”
        --Nicholasa Mohr, lives in East Harlem and is the author of Nilda, El Bronx Remembered, Rituals of Survival: A Woman’s Portfolio, Felita, and A Matter of Pride