{"title":"Cindy Juyoung Ok","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCindy Juyoung Ok\u003c\/strong\u003e explores the intersections of identity, history, and memory through a compelling literary lens. Her works, including \u003cem\u003eWard Toward\u003c\/em\u003e, invite readers to reflect on the complexities of cultural belonging and personal narrative within contemporary settings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRooted in the \u003cem\u003eArts \u0026amp; Culture\u003c\/em\u003e category, Ok’s writing offers a thoughtful meditation on heritage and the human experience, blending evocative prose with rich emotional depth. Her stories resonate with anyone drawn to nuanced explorations of self and society.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"ward-toward-by-cindy-juyoung-ok-9780300273922","title":"Ward Toward","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYale Younger Poet Cindy Juyoung Ok resolutely searches for hope in spaces of fragmentation.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFinalist for the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize for Best First Book, 2024\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\"There are places,\" Cindy Juyoung Ok writes, \"where shaking is expected, loss is \/ assumed.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the 118th volume of the Yale Series of Younger Poets, Ok moves assuredly between spaces—from the psych ward to a prison cell, from divided countries to hospice wards. She plumbs these institutions of constraint, ward to ward, and the role of each reality's language, word to word, as she uncovers fractured private codes and shares them in argument, song, and prayer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eUsing visual play in invented forms, Ok counters familiar narratives about mental illness, abuse, and death, positing that it is not a person's character or will that makes survival possible, but luck, and other people. The poems disrupt expectation with the comedy of institutionalized teens, nostalgia after the climate crisis, tenderness in a nursing home, and the wholeness of faltering Englishes. How do pagodas, \u003cem\u003eSeinfeld\u003c\/em\u003e, ransoms, swans, and copays each make or refuse meaning? Ok's resolute, energized debut shifts language's fissures to reassemble them into a new place of belonging.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47464766734572,"sku":"9780300273922","price":35.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780300273922-ward-toward.jpg?v=1775053997"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/cindy-juyoung-ok.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}