Zamora, Javier

Javier Zamora was born in El Salvador in 1990. Escaping the U.S.-funded Salvadoran Civil War, his father fled the country when he was 1, and his mother when he was about to turn 5. His debut poetry collection, Unaccompanied, explores the impact of the war and immigration on his family. He also wrote the chapbook Nueve Años Inmigrantes/Nine Immigrant Years. His poetry has been featured in Best New Poets 2013 and has appeared in American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, Poetry, Kenyon Review, The New Republic, and elsewhere. “One day, you’ll take a trip to be with us. Like an adventure,” Zamora recalls his parents telling him. That adventure would be a 3,000-mile journey from his small town in El Salvador, through Guatemala and Mexico and across the U.S. border. Traveling alone amid a group of strangers and a “coyote” hired to lead them to safety, Javier expects his trip to last two short weeks. It lasts two life-altering months, alongside fellow migrants who will come to encircle him like an unexpected family. In Solito: A Memoir (Hogarth), Zamora writes about the treacherous and near-impossible journey, and the miraculous kindness and love delivered at the most unexpected moments.