Book Riot Gathers Recent Books by Asian American Poets

At Book Riot, Anne Mai Yee Jansen draws readers' attention to 10 new books of poetry and prose by Asian American poets, including Monica Sok's A Nail the Evening Hangs On (Copper Canyon, 2020) and Aimee Nezhukumatathil's World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments (Milkweed Editions, 2020). "Each and every one of them is powerful," writes Jansen. On Sok and Nezhukumatathil's books: 

A NAIL THE EVENING HANGS ON BY MONICA SOK

This first collection by Cambodian American poet Monica Sok will make you feel. Grappling with the lingering collective trauma caused by the Cambodian genocide, A Nail the Evening Hangs On is a reclamation. Sok (re)writes memory through myth and poetic imagining. Despite (or perhaps because of) the gravity of the histories at the heart of this collection, the writing is exceedingly gentle. For instance, the poem “The Woman Who Was Small, Not Because the World Expanded” tells the story of a woman (the speaker’s mother) who shrank smaller and smaller until the speaker “easily picked her up / folding her inside a banana leaf.” While it’s a poem about terror, it’s also a poem about love and healing. That is true for the entire book. It arises from atrocity but circles around to healing.

WORLD OF WONDERS: IN PRAISE OF FIREFLIES, WHALE SHARKS, AND OTHER ASTONISHMENTS BY AIMEE NEZHUKUMATATHIL

“The buntings know the North Star by heart, learn to look for it in their first summer of life, storing this knowledge to use years later when they first learn to migrate. How they must have spent hours gazing at the star during those nestling nights, peeking out from under their mother. What shines so strongly holds them steady.” Spare but insightful prose is what you’ll find in this collection of personal essays. Put simply, Nezhukumatathil’s new book is beautiful. Anytime a poet writes a book of prose, it’s something to pay attention to, and World of Wonders is no exception. Combining what might be classified as “nature writing” with personal stories about growing up brown in the United States, it’s an unlikely book. Not only is the prose stunning, but the book features a visual surprise: illustrations. Fumi Mini Nakamura’s renderings of flora and fauna are reminiscent of old botanical drawings, and they complement Nezhukumatathil’s lush prose perfectly. This is a rare wonder of a book, and one that you’ll want to share with your friends for its richness.

Learn about all of the selections at Book Riot.