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

The Last to the Party is a work of extraordinary beauty pain and honesty Yang achieves flight in this poetry collection It soars

The Last to the Party is 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

A beautifully bittersweet ode to the many layers that compound over time to make up ourselves