{"product_id":"afterland-poems-paperback","title":"Afterland: Poems - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMai Der Vang\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLonglisted for the National Book Award for Poetry \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe 2016 winner of the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets, selected by Carolyn Forch \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I make the crossing, you must not be taken no matter what\u003cbr\u003ethe current gives. When we reach the camp, \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ethere will be thousands like us.\u003cbr\u003eIf I make it onto the plane, you must follow me to the roads\u003cbr\u003eand waiting pastures of America. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWe will not ride the water today on the shoulders of buffalo\u003cbr\u003eas we used to many years ago, nor will we forage\u003cbr\u003efor the sweetest mangoes. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eI am refugee. You are too. Cry, but do not weep. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e--from \"Transmigration\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eAfterland\u003c\/i\u003e is a powerful, essential collection of poetry that recounts with devastating detail the Hmong exodus from Laos and the fate of thousands of refugees seeking asylum. Mai Der Vang is telling the story of her own family, and by doing so, she also provides an essential history of the Hmong culture's ongoing resilience in exile. Many of these poems are written in the voices of those fleeing unbearable violence after U.S. forces recruited Hmong fighters in Laos in the Secret War against communism, only to abandon them after that war went awry. That history is little known or understood, but the three hundred thousand Hmong now living in the United States are living proof of its aftermath. With poems of extraordinary force and grace, \u003ci\u003eAfterland\u003c\/i\u003e holds an original place in American poetry and lands with a sense of humanity saved, of outrage, of a deep tradition broken by war and ocean but still intact, remembered, and lived.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMai Der Vang\u003c\/b\u003e is an editorial member of the Hmong American Writers' Circle and coeditor of \u003ci\u003eHow Do I Begin: A Hmong American Literary Anthology\u003c\/i\u003e. Her essays have appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe \u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 96\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.4 x 8.9 x 5.9 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 04, 2017\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51771616133408,"sku":"9781555977702","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/3da312f4757894d4e9769b4c4b2c6634.webp?v=1780389634","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/afterland-poems-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}