Kuska Purikusun Runasiminchisrayku - Elva Ambía Rebatta

This poetry compilation, Kuska Purikusun Runasiminchisrayku is a trilingual celebration in Quechua, English, and Spanish that challenges the stereotype of Indigenous languages being relics of the past or static entities. It offers a deep dive into Elva Ambía Rebatta's life, memories, and inspirations, which originate in the Andean region of Apurimac and later transition to her more urban and cosmopolitan life in New York City. Elva's creativity offers a closer look at the history of the Quechua-speaking movement that exists outside the Andean region, in places like the United States, Spain, and Italy, where thousands of migrants continue to speak their native language, and many are involved in cultural initiatives to pass it on to new generations.-from the foreword by Américo Mendoza-Mori

There [in Chincheros] 

I learned the language of my ancestors

It was there that my language echoed,

The beautiful language of the people.

There my language bloomed

And I could speak the marvelous Quechua.

From that moment on

I have loved my language

I never want it to die

I never want it to disappear

-Elva Ambía Rebatta, from "My Two Beloved Towns"