Swallowing Clouds

edited by Andy Quan
and Jim Wong-Chu
POETRY
ISBN 1-55152-073-7
Vancouver, B.C.: Arsenal Pulp Press, 1999
Paperback · $CDN 21.95

WINNER OF
A BRITISH COLUMBIA BOOK AWARD 2000

Description:

Work by writers of Chinese-Canadian heritage have achieved international success: books such as those by Wayson Choy, SKY Lee, and Denise Chong, as well as Many Mouthed Birds, the acclaimed anthology of Chinese-Canadian fiction. In the tradition of Many Mouthed Birds, Swallowing Clouds collects the work of some of the most vibrant and exciting Chinese-Canadian poets working today, the first such anthology ever published in book form. These poems evoke the spirit and sentiment of the Chinese-Canadian community, representing a diversity of language and style that speak to issues of ethnicity and culture while forging new and exciting paths of their own.

Swallowing Clouds includes poems by a number of well-known writers as well as fresh new poetic voices. Together, they form an eloquent and fiery portrait of the Chinese-Canadian experience.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Marisa AnLin Alps, Louise Bak, Lien Chao, Ritz Chow, Glenn Deer, Sean Gunn, Jamila Ismail, Gaik Cheng Khoo, Lydia Kwa, Larissa Lai, Laiwan, Fiona Lam, Jen Lam, Evelyn Lau, Pei Hsien Lim, P.K. Leung, Andy Quan, Goh Poh Seng, Thuong Vuong-Riddick, Fred Wah, Rita Wong, Jim Wong-Chu, Kam Sein Yee, Paul Yee

Reviews:

"Swallowing Clouds is hot. The anthology sings with the works of twenty-five Chinese Canadian poets. It informs us with their sensitive takes on today's socio-political issues. More than that, it unfolds the varied layers of humans relating from their culturally-diverse, sharp perspectives. For instance, Glenn Deer's "Eurasian Album" foregrounds the complex racism which comes from the difference in human discourses. Deer's great sense of humour imbues the reader with a world complicated by inherent realities when these matters mix: race, love, space, time and difference lived under the shallow ideas of being human. The poets write incredibly dynamic poems; for example, Rita Wong with her keen descriptive sense of smell, Larissa Lai with h er lively intellect and Fiona Lam with her aching sensitivity. I like the fact that the poets deal deeply with being situated in a complex world. After all, respecting difference is the key to reducing the world's problems. Deep in my heart, the poems remain."

- Akiko Ito, The Loop Magazine - May 2000.

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