{"product_id":"west-a-translation-9781556596568","title":"West: A Translation","description":"\u003cb\u003ePunctuated by historical images and told through multiple voices, languages, literary forms and documents, \u003ci\u003eWest: A Translation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eexplores what unites and divides America, drawing a powerful, necessary connection between the completion of the transcontinental railroad and the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943).\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 2018, Utah Poet Laureate Paisley Rekdal was commissioned to write a poem commemorating the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad. The result is \u003ci\u003eWest: A Translation\u003c\/i\u003e--an unflinching hybrid collection of poems and essays that draws a powerful, necessary connection between the railroad's completion and the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943). Carved into the walls of the Angel Island Immigration Station, where Chinese migrants to the United States were detained during the Chinese Exclusion Act, is a poem elegizing a detainee who committed suicide. As \u003ci\u003eWest\u003c\/i\u003e translates this anonymous Chinese elegy character by character, what's left is a haunting narrative distilled through the history and lens of transcontinental railroad workers, and a sweeping exploration of the railroad's cultural impact on America. Punctuated by historical images and told through multiple voices, languages, literary forms and documents, \u003ci\u003eWest \u003c\/i\u003eexplores what unites and divides America, and how our ideas about American history creep forward, even as the nation itself constantly threatens to spiral back.\u003ci\u003eWest\u003c\/i\u003e is accompanied by a website (www.westtrain.org) which features video poems and encourages self-exploration of the transcontinental railroad's history through an interactive, non-linear structure. Pairing this urgent book and innovative website, Rekdal masterfully challenges how histories themselves get written and disseminated. The result is a tour de force of resistance and resilience.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Copper Canyon Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/02\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781556596568\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 176\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.85lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 7.40w x 0.90d","brand":"Paisley Rekdal","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42761772073141,"sku":"9781556596568","price":22.1,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_580dad55-60f1-40c4-aa07-b4f1aaba6c9f.jpg?v=1678203273","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/west-a-translation-9781556596568","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}