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The Mark of Belonging
Dear Friend, Mother tongue. Mother land. Mothers and daughters. The first chapter of the three we read this week is “Calliope,” the Muse of epic poetry. And this epic is a snapshot of both Cha’s mother, Hyung Soon Huo, and their motherland, Korea. The entire chapter, and this relationship to mothers of all kinds, seems…
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The Eternity of One Act
Dear Friend, As I imagined, Dictee is unlike anything I’ve read before. In our introductory post on February 1st, I somewhat teasingly asked of this book, “is it cake?” That question was inspired by the many different ways I’d seen this book described and by my passion for something silly: illusion desserts. Turns out, I…
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Is It Cake? Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s ‘Dictée’
Dear Friend, And so, we return to poetry. Well, sort of. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha’s Dictée has been described as a novel by some, as poetry by others. “Genre-bending” seems to be the most common and perhaps most apt description. I think what might be most important to know is, as The New Yorker says,…
Contemplative Reading Project 