Runner-up of the 2007 New Mexico Book Awards Jason has only begun to scratch the surface of a pool of knowledge that helped him survive a life of street crime, violence, and self destruction.

With the reins of his steed held firm, he bounds forever forward into his life with hope for a peaceful existence. A forthcoming book by West End Press set for Sept. 08 and a play in production at the Santa Fe Performing Arts Center set to debut this year, his body of work continues to grow.

Expect big things to happen around this man in the coming years as he lays the foundation for what is becoming his life's work.

News
In his new book, Jason L. Yurcic divulges the secret world of adult street kids who were meant for prisons and young death in Word Son. In this bracing collection of poetry he dares to speak of intimate moments of self doubt mixed with self preservation, and courage. Theses poems explore areas of Yurcic's life that he never dared before speak of while trying to elude the darkness of a young life on the street. Born in Santa Fe, New Mexico while awaiting his fathers release from prison, Jason L. Yurcic spent most of his childhood in his grandfather's junk yard after the murder of his father when Jason was only eight months old. Moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico at the age of five, he soon began to run the streets in an attempt to flee from all the hurt of his broken home. He found solace in gang life to which he admits he never joined, but could not get away from. At the tender age of 6 he was forced to bear witness to the murder of his peers. Armed with street smarts, he became a survivalist surviving instances that should have killed him many times. Receiving a full ride athletic scholarship out of high school, Yurcic could not attend due to his illiteracy and inability to comprehend literature. A professional boxer at 23, violence became his job. After he'd seen enough of brutality, he began to teach himself how to read which eventually lead to writing. Mentored by one of the world's foremost Chicano poets Jimmy Santiago Baca, Jason now conducts poetry workshops and gives presentations in colleges, prisons, and schools throughout the United States.

WORD SON is now available on amazon.com and the price is slashed as an introductory offer by EMAYA Publishing to kick off this sophomore release. WORD SON has a foreword by John Nichols author of The Milagro Beanfield War and 88 pages of poetry

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The first section is about the author's search for acceptance. The second section, Letters to a Lost Love, is a prose poem about healing through acceptance of the past. The author sees how he was trapped in a world of hard physical labor and that lack of education has been the catalyst for his fate. In the third section, Soul on Earth, the writer heals himself by reading in front of audiences, and his work begins to reflect a deep fiery passion of joys sparked by the birth of his first child.

About the Author
Jason Yurcic was born in New Mexico while his father was in prison. Soon after release, his father was brutally murdered in a street fight.

Spending his childhood at his grandfather's junkyard and armed with street smarts, Yurcic survived a tumultuous, lonely childhood to face a 16-year jail sentence. A professional boxer at 23, he became disillusioned with violence. He met poet Jimmy Santiago Baca who mentored him on how to express himself through writing. Jason now conducts workshops for prisons, schools and colleges.