The Year of Blue Water: Volume 113 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780300242645)

Winner of the 2018 Yale Series of Younger Poets prize

"Weaves together descriptions of experiences of immigration as a Chinese-American and of racism, mental wellness, and gender from a queer and trans perspective."--Publishers Weekly

2020 Lambda Literary Awards finalist transgender poetry category

How can a search for self-knowledge reveal art as a site of community? Yanyi's arresting and straightforward poems weave experiences of immigration as a Chinese American, of racism, of mental wellness, and of gender from a queer and trans perspective. Between the contrast of high lyric and direct prose poems, Yanyi invites the reader to consider how to speak with multiple identities through trauma, transition, and ordinary life.

These poems constitute an artifact of a groundbreaking and original author whose work reflects a long journey self-guided through tarot, therapy, and the arts. Foregrounding the power of friendship, Yanyi's poems converse with friends as much as with artists both living and dead, from Agnes Martin to Maggie Nelson to Robin Coste Lewis. This instructive collection gives voice to the multifaceted humanity within all of us and inspires attention, clarity, and hope through art-making and community.

Author: Yanyi
ISBN-10: 0300242646
ISBN-13: 9780300242645
Publisher: Yale University Press
Language: English
Published: 03/26/2019
Pages: 96
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.25lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.50w x 0.50d

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 02/15/2019 pg. 13
Library Journal 04/01/2019 pg. 93