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October 17, 2019
 

Gaman: Topaz Concentration Camp, Utah

 
Kenji C. Liu
"Gaman: Topaz Concentration Camp, Utah" by Kenji C. Liu

About this Poem

 

“This poem is after Looking for Jiro Onuma, a queer experimental performance by Tina Takemoto based on the archival materials of Jiro Onuma, a nineteen-year-old gay Japanese American imprisoned by the U.S. at Topaz concentration camp during WWII. Gaman (or gaman suru) is a Japanese word about dignified perseverance in the face of overwhelming difficulty. This poem explores Onuma’s life as a prisoner in the harsh Utah desert, including the mental desolation he must have experienced—a seemingly unending limbo, at the whims of heteronormativity, racism, and nationalism—which the thousands of Latin American men, women, and separated children currently imprisoned by the US government also probably face each day.”
Kenji C. Liu

 

Kenji C. Liu is the author of Monsters I Have Been (Alice James Books, 2019). He lives on occupied Tongva land, Los Angeles, California.

Poetry by Liu

 

Monsters I Have Been
(Alice James Books, 2019)


“Closet space” by K-Ming Chang

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“Boy in a Stolen Evening Gown” by Saeed Jones

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“Aleppo” by Hala Alyan

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October Guest Editor: Oliver de la Paz

 

Thanks to Oliver de la Paz, author of five collections of poetry, including The Boy in the Labyrinth (University of Akron Press, 2019), who curated Poem-a-Day for this month’s weekdays. Read a Q&A with Paz about his curatorial approach this month and find out more about our guest editors for the year.

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