Out of the Dust: New and Selected Poems

Janice Mirikitani

Published by University of Hawaii Press 2014

Out of the Dust

New and Selected Poems

Janice Mirikitani
Edited by: David K. Yoo and Russell Leong

Volume 44 in the series Intersections: Asian and Pacific American Transcultural Studies

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824847944

Overview
Contents

About this book

Out of the Dust is a collection of new poems by activist, leader, poet, and editor Janice Mirikitani. After being named San Francisco’s second Poet Laureate in 2000, this fifth book of poems from Mirikitani was written in response to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Drawing from her own background as a Sansei (third generation) Japanese American, Mirikitani reflects on the many ways we connect through the dust and our ability to rise and renew ourselves from this place. From the dust of the World Trade Center in New York to the retaliatory ashes of the dead in America’s war in Afghanistan, the poems in this volume seek to explicate the connections of our humanity to the reactionary profiling of people of Middle Eastern descent and different ethnicities, comparing these choices to the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Mirikitani’s poems cover topics about rape, incest, the continued struggle for justice and economic equality, and the poet’s experiences throughout her 50-year career at Glide Foundation and Church in San Francisco, where she has helped to create groundbreaking programs for the poor, women and children, and those who are healing from sexual assault, violence and abuse. Though constructed from a depth of experiences with struggle, these poems also erupt in celebration of marriage, daughters, and the discovery of self through diversity.

Author / Editor information

Yoo David K. :

David K. Yoo is vice provost, Institute of American Cultures, and professor of Asian American studies and history at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Introduction: Out of the Dust Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Out of the Dust Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
We, the Dangerous Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	65
Looking for America Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
Breaking Silence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
Woman with Straight Back Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	131
Late with Lunch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	157
Tongues Afire Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195

Language: English
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 208

eBook

Published: July 31, 2014
ISBN: 9780824847944