How to Be Dead in a Year of Snakes

by Chris Tse

In 1905, white supremacist Lionel Terry murdered the Cantonese gold prospector Joe Kum Yung to draw attention to his crusade to rid New Zealand of Chinese and other east Asian immigrants. Author Chris Tse uses this story—and its reenactment for a documentary a hundred years later—to reflect on the experiences of Chinese migrants of the period, their wishes and hopes, their estrangement and alienation, their ghostly reverberation through a white-majority culture. Along the way readers visit the gold fields of the south; a shipwreck in the Hokianga that left the spirits of 500 Chinese gold miners in an unmemorialized limbo for a hundred years; and the streets of Newtown, Wellington, where Lionel Terry went out one night “looking for a Chinaman.” Chris Tse’s flickering use of imagery, resonant language, and flexible pronouns are particularly suited to the historic events he describes and the viewpoints he shifts through. How to be Dead in a Year of Snakes is a welcome poetic addition to New Zealand literature.

Genres: Poetry, History, Nonfiction

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Sarah Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a powerful and moving collection. 32 To kill a man made me tear up.

[Ignacio Peña · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful collection throughout and the writing is oftentimes gorgeous. Snakes is a wonderful collection of poetry with a thematic narrative at the spine of it.

[Shelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Any book of poetry this unique has to be worth at least 4 stars. Here is a dead story that has been resurrected by Tse and which still strongly resonates in our unkind world.

Goldminer Joe Kum Yung was murdered by a man who wished to eliminate the "yellow peril" from NZ. Lionel Terry walked 1400 kms to petition Parliament to stop all Chinese immigrants coming to NZ, but he lost the case so went out and shot Joe instead.

Enough backstory - "Year of Snakes" manages to honour Joe and allow him a story. Some of the lines are so tender it enters the heart like a quill; "This constant southern wind laughs through me./It is cunning it is deep/When I turn to catch my shadow/the kuaka pick at my hair and take hold".

Lionel Terry's story is also played out, his madness, and his imprisonment for lunacy. The impact of murder, even when it is largely forgotten, is addressed. A life, a cruel act, the horror and indifference of the autopsy, the trial where the name of the murdered is subsumed by the murderer, which is, possibly, the worst injustice.

Tse has written an elegy that readdresses bigotry and injustice, and revisits the individual life of Joe Kum Yung because his was loss on a small and grand scale, he lost his home, wife, and life to try and better himself in a new country.

Ultimately Tse's book is about humanity and the loss we all experience when we don't practice it. The language is original, clear, sensitive, and hard hitting. This is non-fiction meets poetry meets song.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection grows very slowly into its power and impact. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the format it takes at the beginning, but steadily I was drawn into the poet’s approach and felt it was a really heavy and touching tribute to this event and its impact. I love strongly themed collections, this one is very well done.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, this is more like it. Barely understood a word - loved it!

[Te Aniwaniwa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading this. Difficult to find poetry that is great in both content and technique. The style was cool, interesting, and versatile <3 <3 <3

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joe Kim Yung’s story told with a focus on him rather than his murderer. The SS Ventnor info was an added shock

[Francis Cooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

🐍🐍🐍

[Harold Coutts · Rating 4 out of 5]

very clever and beautiful. has an important message also

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

32 To kill a man
and
68 He wore a distinct bravery on his face.