Extinction Theory: Poems (The National Poetry Series) - Softcover

Lam, Kien

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9780820362731: Extinction Theory: Poems (The National Poetry Series)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0820362735 ISBN 13: 9780820362731
Publisher: University of Georgia Press, 2022

Synopsis

Extinction Theory is a collection of pseudoscience poems that try to provide rationales for some of life’s most salient mysteries. Where is God? What does it mean to belong? Who killed the dinosaurs? Kien Lam creates new worlds with new rules to better answer these perennial questions. His poetry is that of discovery, of looking at the world as if for the first time. Lam exposes the transitory and transcendent nature of things and how we find meaning.

At the heart of this collection is also a cataloging of the smaller “extinctions” in life. Every passing moment is the death of something, and try as we might to recreate the feeling, it can never be the same. Maybe it’s a relationship. Maybe it’s a donut. It changes its shape as we juxtapose it against something new. Extinction Theory is as much about language as it is about the absence of language. Of English, of Vietnamese, and then of neither.

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About the Author

KIEN LAM is a Kundiman Fellow and an Indiana University MFA alumnus. His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in Poetry, the New Republic, the Nation, and other publications. He currently lives in Los Angeles, where he writes about professional video game players.

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Publisher
University of Georgia Press
Publication date
2022
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0820362735
ISBN 13 
9780820362731
Binding
Paperback
Number of pages
88
Rating
  • 3.87 out of 5 stars
    60 ratings by Goodreads