Poetry. Asian Studies. The poems in WHEN THE PLUG GETS UNPLUGGED, by prominent Korean poet, Kim Hyesoon, are spoken by rats, rats who forage, rats endangered by human beings, rats who listen to people die in a collapsing department store--rats who are, in other words, the voices of modern Seoul, or (to risk the pun) the modern soul. Kim Hyesoon's work is only now receiving the attention it deserves in the United States, due to the efforts of her fine translator, Don Mee Choi. Anyone interested in poetry from Korea, or poetry written in a distinctive voice, should read this collection.

Author City: SEOUL KOR

Kim Hyesoon is a prominent South Korean poet who has received numerous prestigious literary awards. She teaches creative writing at Seoul Institute of the Arts. Her work translated into English includes the books ALL THE GARBAGE OF THE WORLD, UNITE! (Action Books, 2011) and MOMMY MUST BE A FOUNTAIN OF FEATHERS (Action Books, 2008), the chapbook WHEN THE PLUG GETS UNPLUGGED (Tinfish Press, 2005), and poems in the anthology ANXIETY OF WORDS: CONTEMPORARY POETRY BY KOREAN WOMEN (Zephyr Press, 2006).