Description: unMothered, unTongued is a collection of lyric essays written from the liminal space of the in-between. These essays thread themselves around questions of language, landscape, and identity, weaving together intersectionalities and intertextualities.
Brief description: LEE HORIKOSHI RORIPAUGH (she/they) is a biracial Nisei and the author of five volumes of poetry, most recently tsunami vs. the fukushima 50, a Best Book of 2019 by the New York Public Library and a poetry finalist in the 2020 Lambda Literary Awards. Her fiction collection, Reveal Codes, winner of the Moon City Press Short Fiction Award, was published by Moon City Press in 2023, and their chapbook, #stringofbeads, was published by Diode Press in 2023. A recipient of the Association of Asian American Studies Book Award in Poetry/Prose for 2004 and a 1998 winner of the National Poetry Series, Horikoshi Roripaugh's poetry, fiction, and essays have appeared in Kenyon Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, American Poetry Review, Story Magazine, Terrain.org, Hotel Amerika, and North American Review, among other publications. Seven of their essays have been listed as Notable Essays in Best American Essays.
Review Quotes: unMothered, unTongued is an extraordinary collection of essays that masterfully pushes the boundaries of nonfiction. The writing is simply exquisite. Each sentence sings with an elegant precision that cuts like a scalpel to the essence of self, memory, and place. This manuscript tackles nuanced questions of identity, family, culture while simultaneously reimagining the very limits of form and poetic prose. The results are breathtaking. I'm so grateful for this reading experience, one I will not forget.--Chloé Cooper Jones "author of Easy Beauty"