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by Stephanie Sun (Foreword by), Yamu XI (Author)
Hyphen-Nation: A Chinese-American Memoir in Essays and Poetry
"To be hyphenated is to be told you are both everything and nothing at all."
In this piercing and lyrical debut, Yamu Xi unravels the paradox of belonging in America when your body is a battleground of cultures. Hyphen-Nation is a genre-defying exploration of identity, stitching together raw memoir, political critique, and breathtaking poetry to examine what it means to live in the hyphen between Chinese and American.
Through a kaleidoscope of voices, this collection asks:
How do you mourn a homeland you barely remember (On Visiting China After the Pandemic)?
What does it cost to polish your parents' accents into palatable English (The Dream of My Mother)?
Can you love a country that treats your existence as a political equation (An Open Letter to the American Government)?
From the visceral shame of lunchbox moments (The Noble Four) to the generational ghosts of war (The Visitor and The Ghost), these pieces dissect the myth of the model minority with surgical precision and radical tenderness.
For readers of Ocean Vuong's poetic vulnerability and Cathy Park Hong's incisive cultural critique, Hyphen-Nation is a testament to the art of survival-where every essay is a fist, every poem a whispered rebellion.
Perfect for fans of:
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui
