Yoon, Emily Jungmin: A Cruelty Special to Our Species

Harper Collins, paperback Publication Date: June 28, 2023 Publisher Marketing: A piercing debut collection of poems exploring gender, race, and violence from a sensational new talentIn her arresting collection, urgently relevant for our times, poet Emily Jungmin Yoon confronts the histories of sexual violence against women, focusing in particular on Korean so-called "comfort women," women who were forced into sexual labor in Japanese-occupied territories during World War II.In wrenching language, A Cruelty Special to Our Species unforgettably describes the brutalities of war and the fear and sorrow of those whose lives and bodies were swept up by a colonizing power, bringing powerful voice to an oppressed group of people whose histories have often been erased and overlooked. "What is a body in a stolen country," Yoon asks. "What is right in war."Moving readers through time, space, and different cultures, and bringing vivid life to the testimonies and confessions of the victims, Yoon ta