Ae Hee Lee

Ae Hee Lee's book of poetry, Asterism, feels like an exploration by proxy. Because of her geographical displacements - South Korea, Peru, the United States, and the linguistic displacements they elicit, her poetry allows us a glimpse but never full access. And perhaps there is no full access for the author either. There is no one place to call home, fully. There is no one language fully to express oneself. Home, language is perhaps the transit, the motion between places the temporary show more locations before or after the arrival. Like the title of her collection, what we manage, as readers, is an observed pattern of ideas, instead of stars, against the general landscape of her poetry. And if we are lucky, we can hope not to “get cut off…. [to] become many footprints, pressed deep in the ground, covered by snow] (Prelude, 71) Her poetry is a slow pleasure, one that grows with time, in time, allowing for its meaningful permutations to take root in our mind. Her writing feels both like a starting point and an arrival. An already mature writer’s quest for meaning, and meaningful interaction with others. show less

This is one of the most prescient, beautiful, and honest books of poetry I've read in recent years. I don't normally recommend poetry to my wife, but this one made the list. Ae Hee Lee's Asterism is a tour of a life lived in many places but never being from those places. These are vignettes of pain through the eyes of a constant stranger. As with a lot of great verse, where there is hurt, there is hope. Where there is hunger, there is humanity. If you get a chance to pick this one up, please do.

“… Belonging
Splits easier than an atom into being, longing, and language, yes
I have known it to erode into dust, but also birth
A new mountain within the mouth.” (55) - from ‘When a Language is Said to Be Lost’

Ae Hee Lee’s poems in Asterism are works of transformative possibilities, made possible by transgressing boundaries, by imagining, by bringing to each new situation something other than the status quo. The lyrical pieces demonstrate a wisdom beyond the reach of those of us show more who haven’t experienced leaving a self behind.
“I believe stories become real when you ache” (66) – from Conversation with Immigration Officer

In some poems like the speaker’s answers when detained by an immigration officer the poems function as prophetic words, giving poetic rather than the expected answers. Her ‘Conversation’ gives a reminder of Denise Levertov’s ‘What Were They Like?’ where poetry slides into the most mundane of questions to give us a glimpse of an alternative. This is a tremendous first book of poetry. show less

Asterism is a beautiful and moving collection of poems that reflect a young Korean woman's immigrant experience. Her imagery, her voice, her experiences take one's breath away. Profound and succinct, Lee's poems chronicle her feelings of alienation and rootlessness. Her use of language is rich and unique, as are her associations with food and the journey that memories take us on.

As an immigrant myself, I could relate to Lee's experiences. In some instances I felt that she gave voice to show more things I had sensed, but never articulated in the same way. Asterism is an important contribution to immigrant poetry. show less