In poems like “Damascus Autumn” and “Daugava, Daugava,” Gaile paints fairytale -like imaginings of a better version of the country she loves so well, yet they are always marred by history: “We cannot return home. Now we have seen it.” In other poems like “Over the Border” and “A Woman’s Happiness,” she gives far more literal pictures of the quotidian issues she sees around her, using sparse diction and straightforward criticism to starkly portray the often-harsh country of cold nights and long winters in which she and her contemporaries are still learning to live. Ravaged by centuries of conquest, stripped to its bones by the Soviet years, the Baltic region has a painful past that reflects heavily in the social climate of these countries that are still rebuilding today. In 30 Questions, the places and people speak through the poet in a fantastic yet familiar way. Linda Stack-Nelson University of Oklahoma Julayne Lee Not My White Savior Los Angeles. Rare Bird Books. 2018. 128 pages. Julayne Lee’s debut poetry collection is a tightrope walk between rage and respect. Not My White Savior begins with an introduction that helps readers contextualize the work, in which Lee declares that she is one of two hundred thousand Koreans adopted because of the Korean War. “We are living evidence of a history that has far too often been romanticized, glamorized, and inaccurately and incomprehensively documented.” The book is divided into five sections, each challenging a different facet of traditional adoption narratives through the lens of Lee’s personal experience to serve as a memoir in verse. In an early poem, readers can follow Lee’s evolution from someone who created her own “Asian American History 101” course through the work of other poets— with nods to I Was Born with 2 Tongues, Ed Bok Lee, David Mura, and more—and learned to find strength in her own identity in poems such as “My Ancestors Were Royalty.” Metaphors such as the body as the DMZ, divided and at war like the North and South, enrich and complicate poems that tackle whiteness and cultural appropriation . In one poem, she compares the adoption process to selecting a houseplant that complements the family’s lifestyle. In another, she laments the loss of such basic personal details as her true birthday and the Korean language fitting comfortably on her tongue. Many strong poems are those that directly address perpetrators of trauma. In “Dear White Family,” Lee writes, “I could never be white enough for you,” followed closely by a poem for her birth, foster, and adoptive mothers that somehow holds the full spectrum of emotions children can feel Land of Three Rivers: The Poetry of North-East England Ed. Neil Astley Bloodaxe Books The wingspan of Land of Three Rivers touches Bede in the eighth century as well as Sting in the twentieth, grouping their legacies by region and subregion as it seeks to offer “modern perspectives on historical subjects.” Well-known names like Auden, Larkin, and Swinburne join with dozens of others along Hadrian’s Wall or over a Newcastle pint in this celebration of English poetry. Laura Lindstedt Oneiron Trans. Owen F. Witesman Oneworld Seven women find themselves together in a white, undefined space after their deaths. With no idea of why or where they are, they bring their stories together in an attempt to parse out the strange nature of their current state. Reflective and full of depth, Finnish author Laura Lindstedt blends in elements of other genres such as poetry and essay to wrestle with some of life’s most difficult questions. Nota Bene WORLDLIT.ORG 83 toward their mothers. Still other poems honor the history of suicide among adoptees through elegiac solidarity: “we expect death / for every life taken by suicide / how many more considered / this journey / from this life we cannot escape?” Not My White Savior is an unflinching poetry collection that rages against the injustices suffered in silence by the adoptee community and, for many years to come, will serve as both beacon and megaphone for those two hundred thousand forgotten children scattered across the globe. Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello Miami, Florida Leontia Flynn The Radio Winston-Salem...
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Jan 1, 2019
Avantikasandeep Bhat + 1
Open Access