Skirt Full of Black (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Shin's poetry is a grand orchestration of the cacophonic events and voices in an immigrant woman's life. Marked by a keen political consciousness, an imagination as wicked as it is generous, and an erotic, physical sense of language both remembered and forgotten, these poems are at once social critique and personal intimation, worth revisiting again and again."-Jane Jeong Trenka

As Sun Yung Shin spins new myths from Catholic and Buddhist traditions and bestows new connotations upon the characters of the Korean alphabet, she gives voice to the spiritual and cultural hunger of transnational adoptees, crafting a nuanced, unique language for navigating the politics of gender, ethnicity, and identity. Visit her website at www.sunyungshin.com.

About the Author

Sun Yung Shin was born in Seoul and grew up in Chicago. She is author of the children's book Cooper's Lesson and an editor of Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption. After living in Boston and Pittsburgh, she moved to the Twin Cities and now teaches at the Perpich Center for Arts Education.

Product Details

• Paperback: 110 pages
• Publisher: Coffee House Press (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156689199X
• ISBN-13: 978-1566891998
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,216,124 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rage becomes "slow like glass as a verb", September 13, 2007

By	Dylan M. (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews

Rage becomes "slow like glass as a verb" in this amazing collection of poems. I really enjoyed the insights into both the Korean and American cultures and languages, from a unique perspective. Where do people such as Asian adoptees fit into the narrative of America in general, and specifically Asian America, which has a long history, and isn't going anywhere but deeper? Read this book for beautifully-rendered clues.

5.0 out of 5 stars exceptional contemporary verse, December 4, 2007

By	Robert E. O'brien "desert boots" (Las Vegas, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I don't often recommend books of poetry but Ms. Shin has a wonderful of sharing the passion of struggles with language. Passion in terms of frustration, enthusiastic joy, and fear of the power of words. Her poems separate the various meanings of English words and terms, break them down and show the hidden meanings.

While many other poets attempt this, they lose the beauty of words along the way, the ability for words to combine and ring a note. Skirt Full of Black is an exception book because it's author never rings a sour note even while de-constructing a language.