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The Trees Witness Everything
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Check link for latest rating. ( 1,087 ratings, 221 reviews)
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
This exquisitely crafted poetry collection will appeal to readers who appreciate experimental and traditional poetic forms, as well as those interested in themes of grief, memory, and healing. It is especially suited for poetry enthusiasts and culturally curious readers open to cross-cultural literary innovation.
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See moreThe forthcoming title from award-winning Asian American poet Victoria Chang, whose star is rising.
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Description
A lover of strict form, best-selling poet Victoria Chang turns to compact Japanese waka, powerfully innovating on tradition while continuing her pursuit of one of life's hardest questions: how to let go.
In The Trees Witness Everything, Victoria Chang reinvigorates language by way of concentration, using constraint to illuminate and free the wild interior. Largely composed in various Japanese syllabic forms called 'wakas,' each poem is shaped by pattern and count. This highly original work innovates inside the lineage of great poets including W.S. Merwin, whose poem titles are repurposed as frames and mirrors for the text, stitching past and present in complex dialogue.
Chang depicts the smooth, melancholic isolation of the mind while reaching outward to name — with reverence, economy and whimsy — the ache of wanting, the hawk and its shadow, our human urge to hide the minute beneath the light.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Critics praise this collection for its precise and haunting poetry. Sean Hewitt of the Irish Times describes the poems as "brilliant," "impeccable," and "crystalline," highlighting their sharp detail and hallucinatory quality. The New Yorker recognises Chang's work as "highly compressed, surreal meditations" demonstrating sustained observation and imagination. Publisher's Weekly calls the book "elegant and reflective," especially resonant for those who are grieving. The collection is noted for its unique blend of reverence, economy, and emotional depth.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781472157454
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 05 May 2022
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Corsair
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 14.0mm
Width: 106.0mm
Height: 226.0mm
Weight: 127g
Pages: 144
Collections
About the Author
Victoria Chang's latest book of poetry is The Trees Witness Everything. Her nonfiction book, Dear Memory, was published in 2021. OBIT, her prior book of poems was named a New York Times Notable Book, a Time Must-Read Book, and received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award in Poetry, and the PEN/Voelcker Award. It was also longlisted for a National Book Award and named a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Griffin International Poetry Prize. She has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, and lives in Los Angeles and is a faculty member within Antioch's low-residency MFA Program.
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