
Brain Fever
Poems
Kimiko Hahn(Author)
WW Norton & Co (Publisher)
Published on 25. August 2017
Book
Paperback/Softback
138 pages
978-0-393-35440-9 (ISBN)
Description
Acclaimed as "one of the most fascinating female poets of our time" (BOMB), Kimiko Hahn is a shape-shifter, a poet who seeks novel forms for her utterly original subject matter and "stands as a welcome voice of experimentation and passion" (Bloomsbury Review). In Brain Fever, Hahn integrates the recent findings of science, ancient Japanese aesthetics and observations from her life as a woman, wife, mother, daughter and artist.
Rooted in meditations on contemporary neuroscience, Brain Fever takes as its subject the mysteries of the human mind-the nature of dreams and memories, the possibly illusory nature of linear time and the complexity of conveying love to a child. In one poem, "A Bowl of Spaghetti", she cites a comparison that researchers draw between unravelling "the millions of miles of wires in the [human] brain" and "untangling a bowl of spaghetti", and thus she untangles a memory of her own: "I have an old photo: Rei in her high chair intently / picking out each strand to mash in her mouth. // Was she two? Was that sailor dress from mother? / Did I cook that sauce from scratch? If so, there was a carrot in the pot."
Equally inspired by Sei Shonagon's tenth-century Pillow Book and the latest findings of cognitive research, Brain Fever is a thrilling blend of the timely and the timeless.
Rooted in meditations on contemporary neuroscience, Brain Fever takes as its subject the mysteries of the human mind-the nature of dreams and memories, the possibly illusory nature of linear time and the complexity of conveying love to a child. In one poem, "A Bowl of Spaghetti", she cites a comparison that researchers draw between unravelling "the millions of miles of wires in the [human] brain" and "untangling a bowl of spaghetti", and thus she untangles a memory of her own: "I have an old photo: Rei in her high chair intently / picking out each strand to mash in her mouth. // Was she two? Was that sailor dress from mother? / Did I cook that sauce from scratch? If so, there was a carrot in the pot."
Equally inspired by Sei Shonagon's tenth-century Pillow Book and the latest findings of cognitive research, Brain Fever is a thrilling blend of the timely and the timeless.
Reviews / Votes
"In Brain Fever, Kimiko Hahn moves through the rooms of the mind with an oneiric weightlessness. She also touches concrete ground in the realm of neuroscience, and in the world outside the mind, where love, betrayal, regret, and debilitating loss reside. This is a beautiful and troubling book, a marriage of what matters most: the mysteries buried at our very core and the world that cradles and cuts into us at every turn." -- Tracy K. Smith "Hahn's poems glow with concentrated energy." -- Boston Review "The poems' brevity, precise imagery, and echoing of that imagery will make readers return to the collections, finding new connections each time." -- Moon City Review "A juxtaposition of current scientific research on brain function and cognition with ... a lyrical daydream of loss and resilience... Outstanding." -- PleiadesMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 206 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
181 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-393-35440-9 (9780393354409)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
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Person
A chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, Kimiko Hahn has published more than ten collections on subjects ranging from Asian American identity and zuihitsu to rarified fields of science. Her honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, PEN/Voelcker Award, Shelley Memorial Prize, and, most recently, the 2023 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for Lifetime Achievement. She teaches in the MFA program for Creative Writing & Literary Translation at Queens College, City University of New York.