Phantom Pain Wings
Phantom Pain Wings by Kim Hyesoon, published by New Directions Publishing Corporation in 2023, is a collection that delves into themes of war trauma and collective grief. This edition, comprising 182 pages, presents a unique exploration of the poetic form, where the author employs an “I-do-bird-sequence” to convey the complexities of memory and loss. Kim Hyesoon, a prominent figure in feminist poetry from South Korea, invites readers into a lyrical universe that intertwines personal and collective experiences.
In this collection, readers will encounter a rich tapestry of imagery and sound, as Kim’s work blends traditional folklore with contemporary realities. The poems reflect on existential struggles against power and gendered violence, using the metaphor of birds to navigate the depths of grief. Through rhythmic lines and visual puns, the collection engages with various cultural references, including a cremation ceremony and the legacies of notable figures in literature and art. Phantom Pain Wings offers a profound exploration of identity and memory, resonating with themes found in language arts, linguistics, and literary criticism.
Official synopsis Publisher
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR POETRY
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 LUCIEN STRYK ASIAN TRANSLATION PRIZE
An iconic figure in the emergence of feminist poetry in South Korea and now internationally renowned, Kim Hyesoon pushes the poetic envelope into the farthest reaches of the lyric universe. In her new collection, Kim depicts the memory of war trauma and the collective grief of parting through what she calls an “I-do-bird-sequence,” where “Bird-human is the ‘I.’” Her remarkable essay “Bird Rider” explains: “I came to write Phantom Pain Wings after Daddy passed away. I called out for birds endlessly. I wanted to become a translator of bird language. Bird language that flies to places I’ve never been.” What unfolds is an epic sequence of bird ventriloquy exploring the relentless physical and existential struggles against power and gendered violence in “the eternal void of grief” (Victoria Chang, The New York Times Magazine). Through intensely rhythmic lines marked by visual puns and words that crash together and then fly away as one, Kim mixes traditional folklore and mythology with contemporary psychodramatic realities as she taps into a cremation ceremony, the legacies of Rimbaud and Yi Sang, a film by Agnes Varda, Francis Bacon’s portrait of Pope Innocent X, cyclones, a princess trapped in a hospital, and more. A simultaneity of voices and identities rises and falls, existing and exiting on their delayed wings of pain.
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