What have you done to our ears to make us hear echoes?

“Using fairy tale archetypes like axes and keys, and diverse cultural references—from the Romanovs and code ciphers to Korean birth rituals—Arlene Kim recasts the experience of family immigration in language that manages to be both lush and restrained. This is a book to savor, give your friends, and let echo in your ears for a long time to come.”

“Arlene Kim’s book details a crisis of the spirit… . Underlying this narrative, Kim’s use of rhyme, syllabics, prose poems, and white space on the page make a compelling read more captivating. This is a collection not to be missed.”

“In this young century, American writing has rapidly changed and the impact of this book proves Arlene Kim is a part of this exciting transformation. Her poetry and prose challenge the concept of genre as they redefine the role of the imagination. Her courage and visionary dances realign the poetic process as Kim takes the personal and moves it into dimensions where the words of the seer become the sounds of compassion.”

“Arlene Kim’s stunning debut explores a wilderness where the self orphans and twins. ‘In that dark, we take shape,’ she tells us. With lush and exact language, surprising form and slippery syntax, these innovative poems do not recover what is lost, rather they body forward and remake with intoxicating urgency ‘the next world for something like singing.’ Kim’s wholly original voice and attentive consciousness reinvent the page and call us back to the family of things.”