Maguey Journey

Discovering Textiles in Guatemala

Author: Kathryn Rousso
Three parts within 14 chapters; illustrations, b/w & color photography; appendix 1-5; table, Mayan terminology; glossary; bibliography; further reading & index
Publisher: The University of Arizona Press, Tucson www.uapress.arizona.edu

“There is no other publication quite like this one devoted to maguey use in Guatemala, past and present. Rousso’s photographs are excellent and provide the reader with additional information that words cannot convey.”
—Margot Blum Schevill, co-editor of Textile Traditions of Mesoamerica and the Andes: An Anthology

Kathryn Rousso, an accomplished textile artist, takes a detailed look at the state of maguey culture, use and trade in Guatemala. She has spent years traveling in the region, highlighting maguey workers’ interactions in many locations and blending historical and current facts to describe their environments. Along the way, Rousso has learned the process of turning a raw leaf into beautiful and useful textile products and how globalization and modernization are transforming the maguey trade in Guatemala.