Your Ancient See Through

by Hoa Nguyen

Hoa Nguyen, born near Saigon January 26,1967, moved to the States when she was 18 months old. She grew up in the suburbs of Washington, Dc and studied poetry at New College of California in San Francisco, California. She now lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, the poet Dale Smith, and their son, Keaton Thomas. In 2002, subpress published Your Ancient See Through, a full-length collection of her poems with drawings by Philip Trussell. "Interlocking profiles how the mouth protrudes through the other's face faces joined like vases smiling lips nostril x or a vest with two buttons has become of union double secret grin up-turning chin."

Genres: Poetry

111 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2001

About the author

Hoa Nguyen [(Vĩnh Long, 1967)] was born in the Mekong Delta, grew up in the DC area and studied poetics in San Francisco. She is the author of 8 books and chapbooks, most recently Hecate Lochia (Hot Whiskey, 2009), Kiss a Bomb Tattoo (Effing Press, 2009) and Chinaberry (Fact Simile, 2010). Based in Austin, TX, Hoa curates a reading series and leads a creative writing workshop.

Reviews

[Nate Jordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Using the language of dream and memory, Nguyen gives us a vision of nature, a dream of life and color. These excerpts make a poem themselves:
"Let me be a meaningful soul"
"I must have more light"
"Kick and beat the brilliant air"
"Want to kiss the air tonight"

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unafraid.

[Rebecca Valley · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many short, perfect little poems in this good. Also a lot of sass.