Sanctuary by Adrienne Su

Sanctuary, poems by Adrienne Su (Manic D): Do not allow the clarity of address in this striking second book to distract you from its many demands: Su's approach is risky in its sheer honesty and fierce by way of simplicity. The topics she addresses are as challenging as the formal rigors she undertakes and sustains with belying ease. Philosophically true, intellectually conversant, the speaker of these poems faces head-on the many implications of identity as an Asian American, and as a mother: "the written word / cannot compete with milk or tears." Tied by biological instinct and imaginative impulse, Su's poems beautifully address the conflicts inherent in writing and being. —Cate Marvin