RaveNew York Journal of BooksDelight, Parnassians. Arthur Sze has returned ... The Glass Constellation, spanning five years of Sze’s compressed lyricism, provides a glimpse into the life of a poet whose work and, in fact, self often seem elusive ... Coming in at a whopping 560 pages, The Glass Constellation has, probably, every word in the English language—but, as usual, he\'s put them all in their right order. Recognition for Sze’s work has always felt a little overdue ... Nevertheless, it feels good to see such a book released, and it is as satisfying to read as it is to hold: a weighty thing, substantial. It is rare one finds a book of poetry that they could, upon completion, easily use to bludgeon an enemy ... All of the Szes’ wonder at the world: the big of it, the small of it, the unexpected poetry in even the mundane, could fill a river to rush and then spill its banks, but if their riparian joys have any drawback, it is this: this is a book that allows no room for growth, spanning so much work and so much time and so many Arthur Szes that it could be confused with an autobiographical obituary ... Even at 560 pages, it feels like there might be more to say, more Arthur Szes to meet, worth waiting for.
Yi Lei, tr. Tracy K. Smith and Changtai Bi
RaveNew York Journal of BooksYi Lei died in 2018, but in My Name Will Grow Wide Like a Tree: Selected Poems Yi Lei, assisted by the thoughtful, expansive translation efforts of Changtai Bi and former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, offers in her absence what is, quite simply, one of the finest collections of poetry released in the last five years ... here Yi announces, immodestly and containing multitudes, that her very existence is a form of protest ... here Yi Lei has the unmistakable timbre of Tracy K. Smith, one of the finest artisans of her mother tongue the nation has ever produced. One suspects that Yi Lei and Tracy Smith are both even better for it ... Smith owns, and embraces, these loving digressions: sometimes the best way to love something is to hold it in your sweet imagination, and she gifts into the work the wealth of her own experience ... a smooth, seamless, and beautiful text that feels almost conversational, both with Yi Lei and with her many tributaries, called to service by both author and translator ... It is superb.
