Toxic Flora: Poems

by Kimiko Hahn

Overview

“[Kimiko] Hahn’s frankness . . . allows [these poems] to stand out as starkly fresh as the carnivorous plants she describes.”—American Poet

For Kimiko Hahn, the language and imagery of science open up magical possibilities for the poet. In her haunting eighth collection inspired by articles from the weekly “Science” section of the New York Times, Hahn explores identity, extinction, and survival using exotic tropes drawn from the realms of astrophysics, mycology, paleobotany, and other rarefied fields. With warmth and generosity, Hahn mines the world of science in these elegant, ardent poems.

from “On Deceit as Survival”
Yet another species resembles
a female bumble bee,
ending in frustrated trysts—
or appears to be two fractious males
which also attracts—no surprise—
a third curious enough to join the fray.
What to make of highly evolved Beauty
bent on deception as survival—

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393341140
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	10/03/2011
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	126
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

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.

Editorial Reviews

She is a superb lyric poet. "

These sharp, gut-punching lyrics quote from and/or borrow the diction of science writing in order to investigate more personal issues . . . but the real thrill comes not from Hahn's personal revelations but from the ways they dovetail so surprisingly with contemporary scientific observations.... This may be Hahn's best book to date. "

She is a superb lyric poet.

Starred Review. These sharp, gut-punching lyrics quote from and/or borrow the diction of science writing in order to investigate more personal issues, including the traumas of girlhood, adolescence, and family in general, as well as the intricacies of love…. In what may be Hahn's best book to date.

From the Publisher

She is a superb lyric poet.

Gerald Stern