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Light cover art

Light

Written by: Souvankham Thammavongsa
Narrated by: Souvankham Thammavongsa
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Publisher's Summary

A beautiful re-issued edition of poetry from the Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author of How To Pronounce Knife

FEATURING A NEW INTRODUCTION BY THE AUTHOR

Winner of the Trillium Book Award for Poetry

Light examines the word that gives the collection its name. There are poems about a sparkle, about how to say light, about a scarecrow, a dung beetle, a fish without eyes. Known for her precision and elegance, for her spare, clear voice, for distilling meaning from details, for not wasting words, Thammavongsa confirms her gifts with these astonishing poems. Light is a work that shines with rigour, humour, courage, and grit.

First published in 2013, Souvankham Thammavongsa’s award-winning third book of poetry is an indispensable contribution to Canadian literature.

©2013 Souvankham Thammavongsa (P)2023 McClelland & Stewart

What the critics say

Thammavongsa’s poems are gentle yet sly, both glance and glimpse—the glint of a moment as it disappears.”—Anne Michaels, author of Fugitive Pieces and All We Saw

"Souvankham Thammavongsa’s Light is as economical an account of the entire world as one could hope to find. The poet’s powerful zoom lens transforms a light bulb box to a Buddhist temple, a plot of parsley to a cheerleading squad, a colossal squid to supper, the sky to an ashtray, and dung to light. If “profound pun” is an oxymoron to you, then Thammavongsa will show you the error of that thinking. At once serious and hilarious, singular and deeply relatable, this collection is a landmark in contemporary poetry."—Citation, Trillium Book Award for Poetry

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