and meditate on the important things in life.” Books: Poetry and fiction Lo coloro de lo incoloro His first book of Spanish poetry published in the United States – Lo coloro de lo incoloro (The color of the colorless) - won the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize competition in 1979-1980. The book was published by the University of California, Irvine in 1981. Cuestion de hombres The Latino Press (CUNY) published Cuestión de hombres (A Matter of Men) in 1996. One of the stories in the collection - El indiscreto incanto (The Indiscreet Charm) - received the Ateneo Puertorriqueño Award for fiction. Aaron Michael Morales of Indiana State University wrote for MultiCultural Review's Summer 2009 issue that these stories are: "...more about racial identiry, both in relation to other cultures and to carving an identity out of one's own culture. ... it's hard not to read the first seven stories as scathing critiques of misogyny, gluttony, homophobia, masculinity and mankind's particular aversion to kindness. ... It is no matter, then, whether the readers see these stories as critiques or compassionate portraits of the downtrodden... humanity through Pastoriza Iyodo's lens is a view rarely seen." Cartas a la sombra de tu piel Cartas a la sombra de tu piel (Letters to the shadow of your skin) was published in Mexico in 2002 and it received the Voces Selectas award. Dr. Paulette Ramsey, of the University of the West Indies, wrote an article on this collection of poems in the Caribbean Qualrterly, saying: “The poems and prose pieces in each section portray a world that is vibrant, charged with life, vivid images of lovers in warm embraces, feelings of nostalgia, reminiscences on past erotic experiences and anxious anticipation of future ones. ... Bilingualism functions as an important rhetorical strategy and is demonstrated in different ways. Some poems are written in English entirely but most are in Spanish. ... This switching between linguistic modes is dominant in poems in which the poet advocates a ready acceptance and tolerance of difference – suggesting that sexuality is not limited to heterosexuality, in the same way that the same emotion can be communicated in different languages. ... Cartas a la sombra de tu piel is an intriguing addition to Spanish Caribbean poetry in general and specifically to the area of queer theory, a contemporary approach to literature and culture which developed out of gay and lesbian criticism, and regards