Year of the Snake

by Lee Ann Roripaugh

In her second collection of poems, Lee Ann Roripaugh probes themes of mixed-race female identities, evoking the molting processes of snakes and insects who shed their skins and shells as an ongoing metaphor for transformation of self. Intertwining contemporary renditions of traditional Japanese myths and fairy tales with poems that explore the landscape of childhood and early adolescence, she blurs the boundaries between myth and memory, between real and imagined selves. This collection explores cultural, psychological, and physical liminalities and exposes the diasporic arc cast by first-generation Asian American mothers and their second-generation daughters, revealing a desire for metamorphosis of self through time, geography, culture, and myth.

Genres: Poetry, Asian American

80 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2004

About the author

Lee Ann Roripaugh is the author of four volumes of poetry, the most recent of which, Dandarians, was released by Milkweed Editions in September 2014. Her second volume, Year of the Snake (Southern Illinois University Press), was named winner of the Association of Asian American Studies Book Award in Poetry/Prose for 2004, and her first book, Beyond Heart Mountain (Penguin Books), was a 1998 winner of the National Poetry Series. The recipient of a 2003 Archibald Bush Foundation Individual Artist Fellowship, she was also named the 2004 winner of the Prairie Schooner Strousse Award, the 2001 winner of the Frederick Manfred Award for Best Creative Writing awarded by the Western Literature Association, and the 1995 winner of the Randall Jarrell International Poetry Prize.
Her short stories have been shortlisted as stories of note in the Pushcart Prize anthologies, and two of her essays have been shortlisted as essays of note for the Best American Essays anthology. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Roripaugh is currently a Professor of English at the University of South Dakota, where she serves as Director of Creative Writing and Editor-in-Chief of South Dakota Review. She is also a faculty mentor for the University of Nebraska low-residency M.F.A. in Writing, and served as a 2012 Kundiman faculty mentor alongside Li-Young Lee and Srikanth Reddy.

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the rhythm to these poems. The sound is very musical with a soft, insistent beat. I love the images too. Sometimes they're beautiful, sometimes bizarre, and sometimes both. It was astounding to see the amount of emotion contained in simple things like frogs, flowers, or jerky.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poems with images of family, gardens, insects, animals, death, and love. At times surrealistic and sensual.

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Snake Wife"--such a beautiful heartbreak.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heard her read from this last night (6 April 2011) at her poetry reading at Briar Cliff University.

[Gerry LaFemina · Rating 4 out of 5]

this second book by Roripaugh is lush, rhythmic, heartfelt, and alive with images and just the right amount of narrative to flavor the lyricism.

[Malcolm Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again, an excellent work. One can feel the clash of cultures, the isolation of Wyoming.

[Jessica Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Year of the Snake made an incredible impression on me. Particularly in the clarity and use of place that Roripaugh employs so well. Her poems make me realize how much and how often nature is employed in poetry, but not always in a unique or original way. Sometimes only as a place-holder. But I don't feel that way when reading these exceptional poems because of the way Roripaugh seamlessly melds nature into her experiences with her place and family in a unique way. How the poems begin in one place and then travel far is what I find perhaps most striking. I’m thinking a lot about "Dream Carp", "Happy Hour", and "Snake Wife". Using the molting of animal and insect to write about identities is transformational and fills the page with that great sense of longing and deep philosophy that we look for and crave so much when reading poetry, and I so admire the way nature is used to write about identity.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This period of Lee Ann Roripaugh’s work resonates less with me than her later work with Tsunami vs. the Fukushima 50. The poems I find strongest in this collection are the ones that are not autobiographical, linked with a Snake Woman who comes to represent an alternate version of Roripaugh. “Snake Wife” and “Snake Bridegroom” are easily 5 star poems.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the stories (though they are also somewhat disconcerting), like how the "I" shifts over the course of the collection. The language soft, lulling.

[riley harris · Rating 1 out of 5]

not quite my cup of tea

[Carley Deiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love her use of animal imagery. Snakes, moths, and fish are unusual in poetry but Roripaugh uses them vidily and essentially to her upbringing as a biracial girl in Wyoming. Powerful stuff

[Kayla Hollatz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This rhythmic, stirring poetry collection is just as beautiful years after my first reading of this collection. Lee Ann writes in a revealing, vulnerable way that helps you feel the clash of cultures, which is a theme that's explored in rich detail in these poems. My favorites are Snake Song at the beginning and White Butterfly at the end, but in my second reading of the collection, Dream Carp stole the show for me. I will appreciate this collection for years to come.