From Powells.com
Our favorite books of the year.
Staff Pick
Kai Cheng Thom's words are both prayers and incantations, spells for the streets and the cast aside, her words drawing blood even as they soothe. Invoking her experience as a trans woman and a Chinese American, she unveils the small hypocrisies and betrayals that occur within the very spaces that should be havens. These poems take no prisoners as they claw their way to survival, to vitality, to life. After all, what A Place Called No Homeland cares about most is love. Recommended By Cosima C., Powells.com
For anyone restless in their own skin, Kai Cheng Thom’s poetry bandages wounds with grace and candor. The perfect read for the raw and weary. Recommended By Robin A., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
A poetic journey to the place where monstrous women roam, and where distinctions between body, land, and language are lost.
This extraordinary poetry collection journeys to the place where forgotten ancestors live and monstrous women roam — and where the distinctions between body, land, and language are lost. In these fierce yet tender narrative poems, Thom draws from both memory and mythology to create new maps of gender, race, sexuality, and violence. Descended from the traditions of oral storytelling, spoken word, and queer punk, Thom's debut collection is evocative and unforgettable.
Review
"This debut collection by Toronto spoken word artist Kai Cheng Thom is impassioned testimony, fiercely polemical and often raw, on the charged subject of identity." Toronto Star
Review
"With imagery and word choice that will leave you breathless and aching, Kai Cheng Thom's A Place Called No Homeland is a phenomenal collection that draws heavily on mythology and oral tradition, gender fluidity and sexual identity. It is at times full of high energy, the words pulsing and needing to be said aloud; at others raw and quietly thoughtful. It proposes a break from tradition and the rigidity of the past, focusing instead on a movement forward into a future of strong women. This is a slim book of poetry that will wreck you in only the most glorious ways." Teen Vogue
Review
"A firework display of courage and victory in the face of aggression... Through her poetry, Kai Cheng Thom offers communal celebration to marginal people and a voice of encouragement for transwomen who walk similar paths." Broken Pencil Magazine
About the Author
Kai Cheng Thom is a trans writer and performance artist whose work has been published in Buzzfeed, Autostraddle, Asian American Literary Review, and xoJane. She writes regularly for Everyday Feminism.