{"product_id":"oculus-poems-9781555978259","title":"Oculus: Poems","description":"\u003ch2\u003eAward-Winning Poetry Collection Exploring Exile, Technology, and Representation\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFINALIST FOR THE \u003ci\u003eLOS ANGELES TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BOOK PRIZE FOR POETRY\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eOculus\u003c\/i\u003e is Sally Wen Mao's brilliant second poetry collection that examines exile as both physical displacement and temporal migration. This acclaimed work confronts the violence of spectacle through innovative verse that bridges historical narrative and speculative imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAbout This Poetry Collection\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe title poem follows a nineteen-year-old girl in Shanghai who documented her suicide on Instagram, launching an exploration of how technology mediates our existence. Mao's poems traverse animated worlds, examine robot culture, and navigate an electronic waste necropolis, creating a unique intersection of contemporary concerns and poetic craft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA fascinating sequence throughout the collection channels the voice of Anna May Wong, the international icon and first Chinese American movie star. Wong travels through cinema history with a time machine, moving past her own death into film's future, where she discovers she has no progeny. This innovative approach resurrects a cultural figure while interrogating representation in media.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eThemes and Poetic Vision\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith speculative imagination and sharpened wit, Mao confronts the paradoxes of seeing and being seen. The collection examines intimacies made possible and destroyed by screens, addressing how women of color navigate roles and representations imposed upon them. \u003ci\u003eOculus\u003c\/i\u003e interrogates survival within a culture that seeks to consume marginalized identities.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eCritical Recognition\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis collection earned finalist status for the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Prize for Poetry, cementing Mao's position as a vital contemporary voice. Published by Graywolf Press in 2019, \u003ci\u003eOculus\u003c\/i\u003e builds on her acclaimed debut \u003ci\u003eMad Honey Symposium\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSally Wen Mao\u003c\/b\u003e has won a Pushcart Prize and received fellowships at Kundiman, George Washington University, and the New York Public Library Cullman Center. Her work addresses diaspora, cultural identity, and the complexities of Asian American experience through innovative poetic forms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis paperback edition presents Mao's complete vision for a collection that redefines how poetry can engage with technology, history, and representation in the 21st century.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Graywolf Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50681138184466,"sku":"9781555978259","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_db7064e2-ea26-4e26-93bb-c384e7b1368f.jpg?v=1733949712","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/oculus-poems-9781555978259","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}