Chronicle of Drifting
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Chronicle of Drifting enacts a restless quest for belonging, interweaving dreamlike imagery and Japanese lyricism
Yuki Tanaka's stunning debut, Chronicle of Drifting, explores rootlessness, its beauty and perils. Tanaka's restless imagination roams among places and personae--a village mermaid, a geisha in the Midwest, a flâneur in Tokyo--searching for a permanent self and a sense of community. In the feverish world of these poems, inspired by the Japanese tradition of tanka and haiku, as well as by timeless surrealism, one meets a light-lashed horse, an imaginary chauffeur, an out-of-business psychic, a girl who skewers a fish with a flower stalk. In poems ranging from lyric to prose, Tanaka creates a poignant dreamlike realm where the inner and outer worlds, the self and others, merge--like the train passenger who, looking out the window and seeing the sky through his reflection, feels "empty, a blue outline."
About this Author
Yuki Tanaka was born and raised on a small island in Yamaguchi, Japan. His debut poetry collection Chronicle of Drifting will be published by Copper Canyon Press in 2025. He has also co-translated, with Mary Jo Bang, A Kiss for the Absolute: Selected Poems of Shuzo Takiguchi--forthcoming from Princeton University Press (The Lockert Poetry in Translation Series) in 2024. He lives in Tokyo and teaches at Hosei University.
Reviews
"In Yuki Tanaka's [chapbook] Séance in Daylight, the poems are streaming with light. Emotions usually obscured in the darkness of loneliness and longing are illuminated, made visible. These poems remind us, the world breaks again and again, but it does not end."--Natalie Diaz "Séance in Daylight is about desire, transformation, and dreams; it is also about intricate, yet light-footed sessions with the dead. The ever-present undertow of the poet's sharp observations keeps these lush, yet lapidary lyrics from slipping into solipsism or sentimentality. These poems remind us that at times, life's very existence feels unbearably inexplicable, beautiful, perverse, moody, and touching. Yuki Tanaka connects these feelings with a spiritual intensity and a sweet wit."--Sandra Lim "At once full of light and darkness, the poems in this short book cover a plethora of topics. . . . Tanaka's voice and the combination between light and dark gives the collection a sense of cohesion." --PANK Magazine
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