Autobiography of Death

Kim Hyesoon's Autobiography of Death is a powerful book that consists of forty-nine poems that represent a single day in the spirit's journey after death. The poems give voice to those who met unjust deaths and unveil the structure of death, revealing how we have died and how we survive within it. The volume concludes with "Face of Rhythm," a poem about individual pain, illness, and meditation.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 128 pages
Publication date: 27 November 2018
Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation

The Griffin International Poetry Prize and the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Award have been won by Kim Hyesoon's remarkable new book, Autobiography of Death. Forty-nine poems make up the title section, each of which depicts a single day in the spirit's journey after death before it begins the cycle of reincarnation. The poems not only give voice to those who met unjust deaths during Korea's turbulent contemporary history, but also expose what Kim refers to as "the structure of death, that we remain living in."

At once reenacting trauma and narrating our historical death—how we have died and how we survive within this cyclical structure—Autobiography of Death, Kim's most compelling work to date. The plural "you" speaks as a body of multitudes that has been beaten, bombed, and buried many times over by history in this sea of mirrors. The volume concludes on the other side of the mirror with "Face of Rhythm," a poem about individual pain, illness, and meditation.

Weight: 166g
Dimension: 229 x 154 x 8 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780811227346