Black Dog, Black Night
Poetry

Black Dog, Black Night

Contemporary Vietnamese Poetry
By
Nguyen Do and Paul Hoover
“A monumental contribution to international literature.” —BLOOMSBURY REVIEW
Select Format

Vietnam—the very word raises many associations for Westerners. Yet while the country has been ravaged by a modern history of colonialism and war, its ancient culture is rich and multilayered, and within it poetry has long had a special place.

In this groundbreaking anthology, coeditors and translators Nguyen Do and Paul Hoover present a revelatory portrait of contemporary Vietnamese poetry. What emerges from this conversation of outsiders and insiders, Vietnamese and American voices, is a worldly sensibility descended from the geographical and historical crossroads of Vietnam in the modern era. Reflecting influences as diverse as traditional folk stories and American Modernism, the twenty-one poets included in Black Dog, Black Night, many of whom have never before been published in English, introduce readers to a fresh, uncensored, and utterly unique poetic vision.

ISBN
9781571314307
Publish Date
Pages
272
Dimensions
5.8 × 8.75 × 0.75 in
Weight
13.8 oz
Cover Art

Praise and Prizes

  • “A fresh, groundbreaking compendium of contemporary Vietnamese poets … What emerges from this conversation of outsiders and insiders, Vietnamese and American voices, is a worldly sensibility descended from the geographical and historical crossroads of Vietnam in the modern era.”

    Poets.org

  • “A monumental contribution to international literature … The cloud of mystery over a country with a long and tragic history is lifted by the outstanding work in this collection.”

    Bloomsbury Review

  • “Many of these 21 poets have never been translated into English, and these visions of a country forever altered by colonialism and war, and yet also in possession of an ageless cultural history, may alter many Americans’ views of Vietnam.”

    Publishers Weekly

  • “Black Dog, Black Night presents a rich sampling. Reading this anthology will leave the reader wanting more contemporary Vietnamese poetry.”

    Rain Taxi

  • “Paul Hoover and Nguyen Do have translated all the Vietnamese poems in Black Dog, Black Night, and that consistency is part of what makes it so good to read.”

    Boston Review

    You Might Enjoy

    Based on this book, we recommend you try…
    Cover Coming Soon
    Poetry

    Startlement

    Ada Limón

    Drawing from six previously published books—including widely acclaimed collections The Hurting Kind, The Carrying, and Bright Dead Things—as well as vibrant new work, Startlement exalts the mysterious. With a tender curiosity, Limón wades into…

    Poetry

    The Ocean in the Next Room

    Sarah V. Schweig

    Winner of the Jake Adam York Prize, this collection of poems seeks answers about how to live meaningfully in a world saturated by late capitalism.

    “The question isn’t / what exists,” writes Sarah V. Schweig in her engrossing and prize-winning…

    Poetry

    The End of Childhood

    Wayne Miller

    A tender and provocative collection of poems interrogating the troubles and wonders of both childhood and parenthood against the backdrop of global violence.

    From accomplished poet Wayne Miller comes a collection examining how an individual’s story…

    Cover Coming Soon
    Poetry

    Games for Children

    Keith S. Wilson

    Radiant with a tenderness that is only achieved through close attention, these poems offer witnessing and formalistic exploration as well as a unique cosmology that is made ever more expansive by blurred lines between the instructional and the…