The book marks a career milestone for the poet and scholar. “A lovely, moving, and ultimately devastating book,” said Pulitzer Prize finalist Chang-rae lee. “A heart-wrenching debut,” wrote Elizabeth Lund for The Washington Post. “Miracles of clarity and precision,” said Pulitzer-winning poet Vijay Seshadri. The new collection has been lauded by critics and writers alike. I wrote this book to say that one has the agency and command to preserve their own narrative.” “Poetry is not just relief poetry is tension,” Yoon wrote in an author’s note. Across 80 pages, the Busan native confronts the histories of sexual violence against women-focusing on the Korean “comfort women” forced into sexual labor by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. In September, the UChicago PhD student released her first full-length poetry collection, A Cruelty Special to Our Species. It is through such memories Yoon finds a particular beauty. In writing about gender, race and violence against women, she intertwines the histories of her native Korea and the United States, revealing the painful echoes of the past. Emily Jungmin Yoon’s poetry is not meant to be pretty.
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