Ishle Yi Park NEWS
The Temperature of This Water
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Ishle Park’s debut collection of poetry heralds the arrival of an exciting, vital new voice in poetry. In The Temperature of This Water, Park samples the climates of Rikers Island and Cheju Island, New York and Korea, to present an unflinching, meticulously detailed view of lives cracked open as much by love as they are by overwork, violence, and racism. Sharp street wit and a sensual attention to detail give vivid, palpable form to the lovers and criminals, mothers and gangsters who live behind the closed doors of New York immigrant life. Within each poem lies a story; within each story lies a whole community waiting to be uncovered. Whether tracing the paths of prisoners meeting girlfriends or Korean comfort women or .44s shot from rooftops in Brooklyn, Park’s passion and uncompromising honesty lay bare the ruined heart of a city still pulsing with light.
praise
“Ishle Yi Park writes with a passionate and distinctive voice and a keen understanding of the intersections between individual and community life. These are poems that needed to be written, and need to be widely read.”
— Kim Addonizio, Author of What Is This Thing Called Love
awards
Winner, PEN Open Book Beyond Margins Award
Finalist, Association of Asian American Studies Poetry Book Award