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West: A Translation

West: A Translation Paperback - 2023

by Rekdal, Paisley

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  • Paperback
  • first

Description

Port Townsend: Copper Canyon Press, 2023. First edition. Paperback. New. 178pp. Octavo. Pictoral wraps. "Punctuated by historical images and told through multiple voices, languages, literary forms and documents, West: A Translationexplores what unites and divides America, drawing a powerful, necessary connection between the completion of the transcontinental railroad and the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943). In 2018, Utah Poet Laureate Paisley Rekdal was commissioned to write a poem commemorating the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad. The result is West: A Translation—an unflinching hybrid collection of poems and essays that draws a powerful, necessary connection between the railroad's completion and the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943). Carved into the walls of the Angel Island Immigration Station, where Chinese migrants to the United States were detained during the Chinese Exclusion Act, is a poem elegizing a detainee who committed suicide. As West translates this anonymous Chinese elegy character by character, what's left is a haunting narrative distilled through the history and lens of transcontinental railroad workers, and a sweeping exploration of the railroad's cultural impact on America. Punctuated by historical images and told through multiple voices, languages, literary forms and documents, West explores what unites and divides America, and how our ideas about American history creep forward, even as the nation itself constantly threatens to spiral back. West is accompanied by a website (www.westtrain.org) which features video poems and encourages self-exploration of the transcontinental railroad's history through an interactive, non-linear structure. Pairing this urgent book and innovative website, Rekdal masterfully challenges how histories themselves get written and disseminated. The result is a tour de force of resistance and resilience." -From the publisher.
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Details

  • Title West: A Translation
  • Author Rekdal, Paisley
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition First edition
  • Condition New
  • Pages 176
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Copper Canyon Press, Port Townsend
  • Date 2023
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Illustrated, Maps
  • Bookseller's Inventory # 64752
  • ISBN 9781556596568 / 1556596561
  • Weight 0.88 lbs (0.40 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.9 in (23.11 x 18.80 x 2.29 cm)
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: Asian - Chinese
    • Ethnic Orientation: Asian - General
    • Sex & Gender: Feminine
    • Topical: Women's Interest
  • Library of Congress subjects Poetry, Chinese - United States
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2022047265
  • Dewey Decimal Code 811.54

About Ken Sanders Rare Books, ABAA Utah, United States

Specializing in: Children's Books, Illustrated Books & Wordless Novels, Modern First Editions, Native Americana, Natural History, Radical Politics & Labor, Utah & The Mormons, Western Americana, Western Exploration
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Ken Sanders Rare Books is a full service antiquarian bookshop in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. We carry an ever-changing inventory of art, ephemera, maps, photography, and postcards in addition to a vast selection of used and rare books along with a few new books. We actively purchase and appraise books in all fields.

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Citations

  • Booklist, 04/15/2023, Page 11
  • Library Journal, 04/01/2023, Page 108
  • Publishers Weekly, 05/22/2023, Page 0

About the author

Former Utah Poet Laureate, Paisley Rekdal is the author of four works of nonfiction, including Appropriate: A Provocation, and six collections of poetry, most recently Nightingale, which won the 2020 Washington State Book Award for Poetry. She is the recipient of fellowships, grants, and prizes from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, Pushcart Press, and the Academy of American Poets, among others. A Seattle area native, Rekdal received her MA in Medieval Studies from the University of Toronto, and an MFA from the University of Michigan. Her work reflects her academic background in its frequent exploration and engagement with historical events that propel future narratives and identity politics that shape her life as an Asian American woman. She is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Utah, where she is also the creator and editor of community web projects Mapping Literary Utah and Mapping Salt Lake City.

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