{"product_id":"black-stars-paperback","title":"Black Stars - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eNgo Tu Lap\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eMartha Collins\u003c\/b\u003e (Translator)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Peace arrives with these beautiful poems.\" --MAXINE HONG KINGSTON\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA beautifully rendered translation by acclaimed American poet Martha Collins, \u003cem\u003eBlack Stars\u003c\/em\u003e introduces Vietnamese poet Ngo Tu Lap, who is both attached to his war-haunted childhood home and deeply conversant with contemporary global life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSimultaneously occupying past, present, and future, \u003cem\u003eBlack Stars\u003c\/em\u003e escapes the confines of time and space, suffusing image with memory, abstraction with meaning, and darkness with abundant light. In these masterful translations--printed alongside the original Vietnamese--the poems sing out with the kind of wisdom that comes to those who have lived through war, traveled far, and seen a great deal. While the past may evoke village life and the present a postmodern urban world, the poems often exhibit a dual consciousness that allows the poet to reside in both at once. From the universe to the self, we see Lap's landscapes grow wider before they focus: black stars receding to dark stairways, infinity giving way to now. Lap's universe is boundless, but also \"just big enough \/ To have four directions \/ With just enough wind, rain, and trouble to last.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"War is over. Peace arrives with these beautiful poems.\"\u003cbr\u003e --MAXINE HONG KINGSTON\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCo-translated by Vietnamese poet Ngo Tu Lap and American poet Martha Collins, this moving collection introduces a man who is both attached to his war-haunted childhood home and deeply conversant with contemporary global life. Simultaneously occupying past, present, and future, \u003ci\u003eBlack Stars\u003c\/i\u003e escapes the confines of time and space, suffusing image with memory, abstraction with meaning, and darkness with abundant light. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Underlying tensions animate these arresting poems by Ngo Tu Lap, movingly translated by Martha Collins. Co-inhabiting past and present, the speaker conflates absence and presence so that 'On the finger of a woman who died young \/ A ring still sparkles \/ In the depths of the black earth.' Inside this dual perspective, we, as readers, are enriched.\"\u003cbr\u003e --\u003cb\u003eARTHUR SZE\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Reading Ngo Tu Lap's poems, terrible nostalgia wells up in me--nostalgia for a lost time and a far-gone country, nostalgia for people I've loved, and for creatures of forests and rivers. The French called PTSD \u003ci\u003enostalgie\u003c\/i\u003e. I feel gratitude too.\"\u003cbr\u003e --\u003cb\u003eMAXINE HONG KINGSTON\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A light flickers in and among the shadows and darkness we find in Ngo Tu Lap's poetry. This light is ineffable, and yet utterly present. As Lap writes, it is like 'the whispered call of a star at the edge of the sky.' In these vivid and moving translations, Ngo Tu Lap's poems come to us with the light of his own whispered calls from afar.\"\u003cbr\u003e --\u003cb\u003eFRED MARCHANT\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eNGO TU LAP\u003c\/b\u003e has published three collections of poems in Vietnam, as well as five works of fiction, five collections of essays, and many translations from Russian, French, and English. He is currently Dean of the Department of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Economics at the International School (Vietnam National University) in Hanoi. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eMARTHA COLLINS\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of six collections of poems, most recently \u003ci\u003eBlue Front\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eWhite Papers\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as two collections of poems co-translated from the Vietnamese. Currently editor-at-large for \u003ci\u003eFIELD\u003c\/i\u003e magazine and an editor for Oberlin College Press, Collins lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Cover design by Charles Rue Woods\u003cbr\u003e Cover photo (c) Yves Schiepek\u003cbr\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNgo Tu Lap \u003c\/b\u003ehas published three collections of poetry in Vietnam, as well as five books of fiction, five books of essays, and many translations from Russian, French and English. He has won seven prizes for his writing, which has been translated into English, French, German, Swedish, Czech, and Thai. A fellow of the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies at Korea University in Seoul in 2010-2011, he is currently Dean of the Department of Social Sciences, Humanities and Economics at the International School (Vietnam National University, Hanoi). \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eMartha Collins \u003c\/b\u003e is the author of six collections of poetry, most recently \u003ci\u003eBlue Front\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eWhite Papers\u003c\/i\u003e. She has also published two books of co-translations from the Vietnamese. Collins founded the Creative Writing Program at UMass-Boston, and for ten years was Pauline Delaney Professor of Creative Writing at Oberlin College. Editor-at-large for \u003ci\u003eFIELD\u003c\/i\u003e and an editor for Oberlin College Press, Collins currently lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her seventh poetry collection, \u003ci\u003eDay Unto Day\u003c\/i\u003e, is forthcoming from Milkweed Editions in 2014.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 104\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.4 x 8.4 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e November 12, 2013\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51771443347744,"sku":"9781571314598","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/3b5654960b5007459472d9b13a87878f.webp?v=1780386646","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/black-stars-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}