Francesco Levato

Arsenal / Sin Documentos Francesco Levato

Arsenal/Sin Documentos is a documentary poetics project that examines the criminalization of Latin American bodies through U. S. policy. It consists of a series of linked documentary poems composed of appropriated language from U. S. government documents, such as: the Immigration and Nationality Act; the U. S. patent for Taser hand-held stun guns; materials from the Office of English Language Programs designed to instruct immigrants on assimilation into U. S. culture; and the U. S. Customs and Border Protection's Use of Force Policy, Guidelines and Procedures Handbook.

"Francesco Levato's Arsenal/Sin Documentos is a courageous book. More importantly, it is a necessary book. Every discourse is constructed with an intention, and this type of poetry demands a ruthless, fearless deconstruction of that discourse in order to reveal the truth."

Gabino Iglesias, author of Zero Saints and Coyote Songs