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Proximity of the spirit world, love of family, exhaustion from war, one's Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist obligations, social protest, and the hunger for a better life — these are some of the concerns to be encountered in these thrilling landscapes. Contributors include Nguyen Huy Thiep, Linh Bao, Nguyen Ba Trac, Thich Duc Thien, Ho Anh Thai, Le Minh Khue, Doan Quoc Sy, Vu Bao, Duong Thu Huong, Andrew Q. 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In this essential collection of his work, the best of his prize-winning poems since 1970 are collected in one place, threaded through with essays that link poetry to Balaban's extensive travels, whether hitchhiking throughout the United States or wandering the countryside of Vietnam--during wartime--to record and translate folk poetry.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe result is a remarkable story about a life in poetry. Empathetic, truth-telling, and fiercely perceptive, \u003ci\u003ePassing through a Gate\u003c\/i\u003e is a literary tour de force. As Maxine Kumin reminds us, \"Balaban seems to me our moral spokesperson, our lyricist, our polemicist, exhorter, and consoler: in short, the poet we need.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49789414113553,"sku":"NGR9781556596919","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51037557489937,"sku":"NIN9781556596919","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52122300645649,"sku":"NLS9781556596919","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/155659691X.jpg?v=1750861904"},{"product_id":"ca-dao-vietnam-book-john-balaban-9781556591860","title":"Ca Dao Vietnam","description":"\u003cp\u003eDuring the Vietnam war, John Balaban traveled the Vietnamese countryside alone, taping, transcribing, and translating oral folk poems known as \"ca dao.\" No one had ever done this before, and it was Balaban's belief that his project would help end the war.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe young American poet walked up to farmers, fishermen, seamstresses, and monks and said, \"Sing me your favorite poem,\" and they did. \"Folk poetry is so much a part of everybody's life, my request didn't seem like such a strange proposition,\" Balaban writes.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe resulting collection--the first in any Western -language--became a phenomenon within the American Vietnamese community, but the book slipped out of print after the original publisher folded in the '70s. This revised, bilingual edition includes new poems and an eloquent introduction explicating poetry's importance in Vietnamese culture.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Painting\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The stream runs clear to its stones;\u003cbr\u003e the fish swim in sharp outline.\u003cbr\u003e Girl, turn your face for me to draw.\u003cbr\u003e Tomorrow, if we should drift apart,\u003cbr\u003e I shall find you by this picture.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"In early dynasties, Chinese emperors used to send out officials to record the poetry of the common people because folk songs were believed to be the truest indicators of popular feeling. . . . Consider this book such a sampling. Take it as a guide and enter this world of Taoist sages, parted lovers, melon gardens, concubines, exiled kings, wheeling egrets, rice paddies, bamboo bridges, shimmering moons, and fishtraps.\"--from the introduction\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"These oral poems are direct (though not beyond slyness), simple in language, poignant. . . . Recommended for all collections.\"--\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Balaban\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of 11 books of poetry, prose, and Vietnamese translations. His \u003ci\u003eSpring Essence: The Poetry of Hô Xuân Huong\u003c\/i\u003e, has sold 20,000 copies. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he teaches at North Carolina State University.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50215672054033,"sku":"CIN1556591861A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51037040640273,"sku":"NIN9781556591860","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51329926136081,"sku":"CIN1556591861VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51423411077393,"sku":"CIN1556591861G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52139039162641,"sku":"NLS9781556591860","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1556591861.jpg?v=1750798356"},{"product_id":"path-crooked-path-book-john-balaban-9781556592386","title":"Path, Crooked Path","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Balaban's emotional range is impressively wide and deeply human--by turns compassionate and angry, somber and humorous, earnest and ironic. His voice is strong; his poems are important.\"--\u003ci\u003eHarvard Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eGuided by an acute moral urgency, \u003ci\u003ePath, Crooked Path\u003c\/i\u003e opens on Highway 61 and keeps moving across America and throughout the world. Juxtaposing his experiences in eastern Europe and southeast Asia against contemporary life in the United States, Balaban illuminates the humor and hypocrisy that often percolates when individuals are thrust into the mix of cultures. Whether driving past Bush's Texas ranch, sitting at a café in Vietnam, or trading swigs of vodka with a Bulgarian exile, his poems look beyond the personal to help make sense of an often chaotic world.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom \"The Great Fugue\"\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e...I am playing\u003c\/i\u003e The Grosse Fugue, \u003ci\u003ehearing\u003cbr\u003e the faded voices of those good people\u003cbr\u003e who did not want to see me falter, but took me in,\u003cbr\u003e schooling me in an intertwining of spirits\u003cbr\u003e that like music can fill a room, that is a great fugue\u003cbr\u003e weaving through us and joining generations\u003cbr\u003e in charged, exquisite music that we long to hear.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Balaban\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of a dozen books of poetry, prose, and Vietnamese translations whose accolades include two National Book Award nominations, the Lamont Award, and the William Carlos Williams Award. His translation \u003ci\u003eSpring Essence: The Poetry of Ho Xuan Huong\u003c\/i\u003e was featured on NPR's \u003ci\u003eFresh Air\u003c\/i\u003e. Balaban teaches at North Carolina State University and lives in Raleigh.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50304434766097,"sku":"CIN1556592388G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51037321363729,"sku":"NIN9781556592386","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52683864572177,"sku":"NLS9781556592386","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1556592388.jpg?v=1751212870"},{"product_id":"hawk-s-tale-book-john-balaban-9780152004620","title":"The Hawk's Tale","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50345114927377,"sku":"CIN0152004629G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0152004629.jpg?v=1751036980"},{"product_id":"locusts-at-the-edge-of-summer-book-john-balaban-9781556591235","title":"Locusts at the Edge of Summer","description":"A generous collection of poems by one of the most highly praised writers coming out of the Viet Nam War experience.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50390102343953,"sku":"CIN1556591233G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51037263167761,"sku":"NIN9781556591235","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52516832936209,"sku":"NLS9781556591235","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1556591233.jpg?v=1750991062"},{"product_id":"empires-book-john-balaban-9781556595707","title":"Empires","description":"\"Balaban has long been one of our finest poetic craftsmen working in the lyric mode. In his latest collection, Empires, Balaban once again demonstrates why he is celebrated as a major American poet.\" --War, Literature, and the Arts\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"John Balaban's Empires is an elegant addition to this distinguished poet's body of work, and will surely be remembered as one of the indispensable poetry publications of its decade.\"--Literary Matters\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e John Balaban's sixth collection of poetry considers America in its innate beauty and complex ugliness, in its powerfully healing landscapes and its destructive misadventures. With a compelling lyricism and cinematic imagery, \u003ci\u003eEmpires\u003c\/i\u003e showcases the pervasiveness of the human spirit across a diverse cast of characters, both modern and ancient. From the rubble of the World Trade Center to Washington's troops crossing the Potomac to powerful insights into the Vietnam War, Balaban's genius is in connecting the dots of history. Despite the destruction and persecution associated with empires, Balaban illuminates the often overlooked transcendent hope available through poetry, music, and an unwavering connection to the land. Through heart warming elegies, gripping narratives and new translations from several Romanian poets, Balaban's poems shine a redemptive light amidst the darkness and chaos of changing empires.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"In a way that few poets do, John Balaban truly roams the globe--and the centuries. He has his eye on empires, yes, but also on moments when different slices of history collide... His capacious poems enlarge our eyes on the world.\" --Adam Hochschild\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"In these poems, John Balaban plumbs the recent and ancient past. His generous spirit and technical brilliance cast a very bright light. \u003ci\u003eEmpires\u003c\/i\u003e is luminous work.\" --Elizabeth Farnsworth","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50390321332497,"sku":"CIN1556595700G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51037379756305,"sku":"NIN9781556595707","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52345797378321,"sku":"NLS9781556595707","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1556595700.jpg?v=1751182127"},{"product_id":"remembering-heaven-s-face-book-john-balaban-9780820324159","title":"Remembering Heaven's Face","description":"I volunteered to go to Vietnam, but as a conscientious objector to war. . . . 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