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Last to the Party
In this highly anticipated and deeply moving debut, Chuqiao Yang explores family, culture, diaspora, and the self’s tectonic shifts over time. Yang’s poems journey restlessly through recollections of a Saskatchewan childhood, trips to visit family in Taiyuan, and a sojourn across the American South in search of the moments and places where one became a stranger to oneself. “You are a mouse in the backcountry of your memories,” writes Yang, “You are a fox in winter, devouring well-meaning friends.” Irreverent, fierce, and ceaselessly surprising, The Last to the Party marks the arrival of a unique voice and an unsparing poetic vision.
Chuqiao Yangs poems burst with desire memory and intelligence as she navigates subjects such as family cultures identity and coming of age Nothing is too much for Yang as she balks at the thought of a life without the full brute strength of desire Refracted in these pages is a poetic self that is untethered boundless A luminous debut
A book made of imagistic brilliance and searing honesty As we shift from Saskatoon to Shanxi the eyes in these poems see everything
In poems that are poignant often funny and always questioning Chuqiao Yang invokes an intricate series of bridges that connects daughter parents extended family and ancestors As Yang writes Ive returned from the future and brought back who I intend to be This remarkable compelling debut is a feast of friendship and family departures and reunions
There is a glorious animating rage to many of these poems a refined and sharpened blade that dazzles as it strikes unsparing and incisive in both critique and selfrecrimination delivering curses so brilliant and biting youll wish to feed them to your worst enemies Equally inspired are the poems that thrum with love tangling with the enormity of familial love and its layers of history guilt and grief Chuqiao Yang is a poet in control of the full power of her voice
In one of the finest debuts Ive read in some time Yang writes of a prairie childhood various travel family and family roots and youthful adventures rebellions and reconciliations her lyrics offering a richness that is confident and subtle
– rob mclennans blog
The Last to the Partyis a work of extraordinary beauty pain and honesty Yang achieves flight in this poetry collection It soars
– Canthius
The Last to the Partyis a remarkable debut both captivating and thoughtprovoking Yang has a remarkable ability to capture the complexities of the human experience with great insight With profound themes and beauty in language this collection will resonate with many readers
– Hamilton Review of Books
A beautifully bittersweet ode to the many layers that compound over time to make up ourselves
– Miramichi Reader
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Details
Dimensions:
108 Pages
8.5in * 5.5in * 0.375in
202gr
Published:
April 02, 2024
Publisher:
ISBN:
9781773103334
Language:
eng
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