Poet pushes Spanish advocacy with new bilingual volume

With a great sense of humor, the author plumbs the depths of human despair and celebrates the triumphs of the human spirit

New York, NYNEW YORK, NY: Poet Gilbert Luis R. Centina III greets the New Year with a new bilingual poetry collection that pushes his advocacy to preserve the Spanish language in his homeland the Philippines with the release of his latest literary output in New York today.

The publication of the book by Centiramo Publishing comes a little more than a year before the fifth centenary of the discovery of the Philippines for the West by Ferdinand Magellan in 1521.

The Augustinian poet dedicates this 215-page volume "to my great grandfather Samuel Salas Ramos, whose Iberian blood still flows in my veins."

According to the poet, it is important to preserve the Spanish language in the Philippines as it "forms part of the Filipino soul because it is a repository of great Filipino writings that led to Philippine independence. These writings are important in understanding and defining Filipino identity. Not knowing the Spanish language robs the Filipino nation of its very soul, which is both Hispanic and Asiatic, and much cultural and intellectual treasure would remain hidden from view if the trend was not reversed."

Plus ultra y otros poemas/Plus Ultra and Other Poems gets the nod of Raad Salam Naaman, a Spanish academic and author of Iraqi origin, who has written numerous books on the three monotheistic religions (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity), including his latest work, Los primeros cristianos, los cristianos orientales.

Naaman writes: "The new literary adventure of Gilbert Luis R. Centina III comes to us through a bilingual poetry collection that touches on the full range of human experience with Christian compassion and a good sense of humor. It examines with profound insight and sensibility the difficult interior struggle of daily life and radical Christian conversion, which reminds us of St. Augustine, the spiritual founder of the Order of St. Augustine. In sum, his latest book shows us these truths about life: with health there is love, enabling us to work and to create wealth; that the true measure of love is to love without measure; that with faith, there is hope; and that with intelligence, there is joy. To my good friend Fr. Gilbert: My wish for you is good health, a long life, and great success in your new adventure. May God always guide and bless you."

The book cover illustration was done by Father Gilbert's niece, Marja Katrina Celo Centina, a computer science major at the California State University-Northridge, who puts her passion for water color paintings to good use by collaborating with her uncle on this project.

Plus ultra y otros poemas/Plus Ultra and Other Poems is available from Amazon and other online booksellers.