The Shift continues Curses’s intertextual, cavalcade of references to popular culture and mysticism, except where book one featured Bueno’s unique cauldron of Salvadorian and Tex-Mex anxieties in relation to Catholic morals, gender inequalities, and a search for answers from a sometimes unsympathetic masculine higher power, The Shift finds empowerment in popular culture and fantasy. Along with La Virgen de Guadalupe, there is a feminist hero and savior in Sailor Moon. Bueno’s writing continues to evoke the work of someone struggling to communicate their deepest fears, regrets, and hope. It’s almost as though we’ve stumbled upon a journal—or glorified zine—completely sincere and raw.

Curses: The Shift, Gloria Bueno, 2016. Limited 1st edition of 30 copies. Book 2 of 3, 4.5 x 5.75 inches.