Loop of Jade

Introducing an unmistakable new voice in British poetry, the first collection by Sarah Howe, shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection 2015. There is a Chinese proverb that says: "It is more profitable to raise geese than daughters." But geese, like daughters, know the obligation to return home. In her exquisite first collection, Sarah Howe explores a dual heritage, journeying back to Hong Kong in search of her roots. With extraordinary range and power, the poems build into a meditation on hybridity, intermarriage, and love—what meaning we find in the world, in art, and in each other. Crossing the bounds of time, race, and language, this is an enthralling exploration of self and place, of migration and inheritance, and introduces an unmistakable new voice in British poetry.

Sarah Howe was born in Hong Kong in 1983 to an English father and Chinese mother, and moved to England as a child. Her pamphlet, A Certain Chinese Encyclopedia, was published in 2009, and she received an Eric Gregory Award in 2010.