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Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets
The Same-Different: Poems
Deceptively straightforward and subtly pyrotechnic, the poems in Hannah Sanghee Park's debut collection captivate with their wordplay at first glance, then give rise to opportunities for extended reflection. "If / truth be told, I can't be true," she writes, but her startling juxtapositions of sound and meaning belie that claim, necessitating a search for the truth behind her semantic games.
Here are dozens of brief sentences that can serve as epigrams to undermine our ordinary ways of seeing, as Park's playfully deployed puns recall the sly paradoxes of Oscar Wilde. The Same-Different ranges from the wonders of the natural world to close human relationships, occasioning the kind of explorations offered in "And A Lie": "The asking was askance. / And the tell all told. / So then, in tandem // Anathema, and anthem."
Here are dozens of brief sentences that can serve as epigrams to undermine our ordinary ways of seeing, as Park's playfully deployed puns recall the sly paradoxes of Oscar Wilde. The Same-Different ranges from the wonders of the natural world to close human relationships, occasioning the kind of explorations offered in "And A Lie": "The asking was askance. / And the tell all told. / So then, in tandem // Anathema, and anthem."
72 pages, Paperback
First published April 13, 2015
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About the author
Hannah Sanghee Park
2 books5 followersHannah Sanghee Park was born [1986] in Tacoma, Washington and earned a BA from the University of Washington and an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. She is the author of a chapbook, Ode Days Ode (Catenary Press, 2011). She is the recipient of fellowships and awards from The Fulbright Program, 4Culture, The Iowa Arts Council/National Endowment for the Arts, and the MacDowell Colony. Her work has appeared in various journals and publications, including LVNG, Petri Press, Poetry Northwest, and Best New Poets 2013. In 2014, Park won the Academy of American Poets' Walt Whitman Award.
Park lives in Los Angeles, where she attends the Writing for Screen & Television Program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
(from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/h...)
Park lives in Los Angeles, where she attends the Writing for Screen & Television Program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.
(from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/h...)
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
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January 4, 2016 I tell you I am scared of the dark.
Again you: why? and how? and what company am I
keeping?
Only that of someone whose liver is
a lily, whose lover was a likeness
in this light -- come here, I'll show you --
everybody has a likeness,
not so much a light.
....
Ribcage a series of endless parentheses around the heart:
again again again
the point not made enough
-Hannah Sanghee Park, from "Fear"
I first learned about Park when I read her poem "Bang" (the opening poem in this, her 2015 debut collection) in my contributor copy of 32 Poems. My admiration of her idiosyncratic voice was confirmed when I read her Ruth-Lilly-Fellowship-winning poems, including the magical, fairy-tale-inspired "Norroway in February" and "The Fox Bead in May," in a 2013 issue of Poetry magazine.
Park works in the sonnet form but is not unduly constrained by it. Most of her sonnets are 14 lines long, but some are not; the rhymes are irregular, sporadic, and almost always slant when present; iambic pentameter is occasionally acknowledged as an ideal but is rarely to be found here. I would argue, notwithstanding, that this whole book is sonnets, except the final 16-page poem sequence, "Fear." It would be interesting to see Park's work receive greater attention from contemporary "formalist" poetry circles, since she is clearly preoccupied with issues of form, albeit in a more flexible, boundary-pushing way than most self-avowed contemporary "formalists."
In general, although some of Park's poems do address secondary themes like folklore, eros, and the seasons, the main subject of most of these poems seems to be language itself: language and its quintessential mutability, untrustworthiness, ephemerality. Park engages in punning and other forms of wordplay compulsively such that it sometimes feels like an irrepressible tic. Hers seems to be a scintillating intelligence searching for a subject worthy to be married to its attention. If poetry that is about language itself is your wheelhouse, this is a book that should be on your radar.
Again you: why? and how? and what company am I
keeping?
Only that of someone whose liver is
a lily, whose lover was a likeness
in this light -- come here, I'll show you --
everybody has a likeness,
not so much a light.
....
Ribcage a series of endless parentheses around the heart:
again again again
the point not made enough
-Hannah Sanghee Park, from "Fear"
I first learned about Park when I read her poem "Bang" (the opening poem in this, her 2015 debut collection) in my contributor copy of 32 Poems. My admiration of her idiosyncratic voice was confirmed when I read her Ruth-Lilly-Fellowship-winning poems, including the magical, fairy-tale-inspired "Norroway in February" and "The Fox Bead in May," in a 2013 issue of Poetry magazine.
Park works in the sonnet form but is not unduly constrained by it. Most of her sonnets are 14 lines long, but some are not; the rhymes are irregular, sporadic, and almost always slant when present; iambic pentameter is occasionally acknowledged as an ideal but is rarely to be found here. I would argue, notwithstanding, that this whole book is sonnets, except the final 16-page poem sequence, "Fear." It would be interesting to see Park's work receive greater attention from contemporary "formalist" poetry circles, since she is clearly preoccupied with issues of form, albeit in a more flexible, boundary-pushing way than most self-avowed contemporary "formalists."
In general, although some of Park's poems do address secondary themes like folklore, eros, and the seasons, the main subject of most of these poems seems to be language itself: language and its quintessential mutability, untrustworthiness, ephemerality. Park engages in punning and other forms of wordplay compulsively such that it sometimes feels like an irrepressible tic. Hers seems to be a scintillating intelligence searching for a subject worthy to be married to its attention. If poetry that is about language itself is your wheelhouse, this is a book that should be on your radar.
July 30, 2015
What did I love; which form in the end?
The ruse to arouse? The tender pretend?
--(From the poem "Nagual in November", by Hannah Sanghee Park)--
Well, I certainly loved how Park is able in this, her debut poetry collection, to use so many linguistic ruses herself to arouse our interest. And yes, her pretending is also often tender. The way she agilely plays with and flips language through clever turn-on-a-dime word associations is quite an achievement. And she does so without ever falling firmly into the trap of becoming intentionally obscure and overly academic.
Check out these first two stanzas from her poem, "And a Lie":
The asking was askance.
And the tell all told.
So then, in tandem
anathema, and anthem.
The truth was on hold,
seeking too tasking.
This is well-constructed verse my friends, especially given the shortness of the lines...Park's ability to move her poems rhythmically almost as swift as thought itself is rather remarkable. And it's FUN. She's a word-play joker, but not in a jaded way: She is not afraid to reveal vulnerability behind the artifice, as in this poem with which I will close this review:
T/F
It is the long con,
the construct of it.
You are always on:
Magnet and dragnet.
No use avoiding
the obvious us.
We live on a wing
and a prayer, thus:
first cry foul, then wolf.
I have had so much bad
faith in our future
I don't know what to do.
This statement is false.
This falsity true.
The ruse to arouse? The tender pretend?
--(From the poem "Nagual in November", by Hannah Sanghee Park)--
Well, I certainly loved how Park is able in this, her debut poetry collection, to use so many linguistic ruses herself to arouse our interest. And yes, her pretending is also often tender. The way she agilely plays with and flips language through clever turn-on-a-dime word associations is quite an achievement. And she does so without ever falling firmly into the trap of becoming intentionally obscure and overly academic.
Check out these first two stanzas from her poem, "And a Lie":
The asking was askance.
And the tell all told.
So then, in tandem
anathema, and anthem.
The truth was on hold,
seeking too tasking.
This is well-constructed verse my friends, especially given the shortness of the lines...Park's ability to move her poems rhythmically almost as swift as thought itself is rather remarkable. And it's FUN. She's a word-play joker, but not in a jaded way: She is not afraid to reveal vulnerability behind the artifice, as in this poem with which I will close this review:
T/F
It is the long con,
the construct of it.
You are always on:
Magnet and dragnet.
No use avoiding
the obvious us.
We live on a wing
and a prayer, thus:
first cry foul, then wolf.
I have had so much bad
faith in our future
I don't know what to do.
This statement is false.
This falsity true.
June 10, 2024
love the feminist takes here, but unfortunately i do not understand what is being said at all times
November 15, 2015
There is much to admire in Hannah Sanghee Park's collection: Her efforts to refresh the language by turning cliche's on their heads, by extensive wordplay and pun, her surprising us by turning a stale image inside out. Too often, though, the craft and the verbal gymnastics overwhelm the heart.
There are some wonderful exceptions. "Nommo in September" touches deeply. The third section of the book "Fear" is a poem sequence of sorts that also speaks more deeply. Nonetheless, this is a collection I am glad to have read, but do not feel driven to reread.
There are some wonderful exceptions. "Nommo in September" touches deeply. The third section of the book "Fear" is a poem sequence of sorts that also speaks more deeply. Nonetheless, this is a collection I am glad to have read, but do not feel driven to reread.
December 15, 2025
A collection of poems that play with language and meaning.
from One Truth: "You say: evasive, / it won't hold water, / a sieve vs. vase // via-á-vis I've saved / all the best truths / for this (the truth) a // nightlong longing for / a night of lying / with you."
from And A Lie: "I'll take the untrue, / the tried and true, the ruing / the ruining. And you? // Rocks: the undoing. / Sea: the over and ever."
from & A: "Being a matter / of importance, there // is no mastering / this but to bind you, // trash and all, to the / mast. O you won't reach // irresistible song, / but the rope will teach // you the body's give."
from One Truth: "You say: evasive, / it won't hold water, / a sieve vs. vase // via-á-vis I've saved / all the best truths / for this (the truth) a // nightlong longing for / a night of lying / with you."
from And A Lie: "I'll take the untrue, / the tried and true, the ruing / the ruining. And you? // Rocks: the undoing. / Sea: the over and ever."
from & A: "Being a matter / of importance, there // is no mastering / this but to bind you, // trash and all, to the / mast. O you won't reach // irresistible song, / but the rope will teach // you the body's give."
November 21, 2019
Park has produced one of my favorite collections of the century, and if we feel like being dramatic, of the millenia. I look forward to her future collections. She so clearly has the potential to be one of the Greats of our time. Park is one to watch! I feel so excited to be reading her before she is known by everyone, which I can only assume will happen eventually if she keeps this up.
September 2, 2020
4.5 stars. Park has a deft mastery of language, and some of her language reverberated through my core. Overall, the primary conceit and use of wordplay did not always work for me. While the style didn’t always click for my preferences, Park creates a sense of wonder that is tangible and feels so close, even though the language reflects a deep level of intention and craft.
June 18, 2024
3.5 stars
Witty and taut soundplay. I think that Park does an excellent job of using sound to make bold, associative leaps. Puns can be dark! Favorite section has to be the calendar year from the perspective of various mythological shapeshifters.
Witty and taut soundplay. I think that Park does an excellent job of using sound to make bold, associative leaps. Puns can be dark! Favorite section has to be the calendar year from the perspective of various mythological shapeshifters.
August 30, 2025
"Will you pull yourself together,
asked my bones of me, a simple request
I honors for some time, until I realized,
asking back: Will you pull me together?"
I didn't understand everything but the word play was really fun to read.
asked my bones of me, a simple request
I honors for some time, until I realized,
asking back: Will you pull me together?"
I didn't understand everything but the word play was really fun to read.
April 29, 2021
I liked some of the descriptions of things but otherwise just not my thing.
January 2, 2022
“Hearth | heat earth | at her | heart | heat at/ then he | then heathen | heaven, then.”
August 6, 2015
I loved the way this poets uses sounds and words to create her compact delightful poems. This is one of those books of poetry that you have to hear as well as see. I'll probably read it again soon.
August 30, 2015
Intense punning and torquing of phrases. Reminds me of Dickinson via Rae Armantrout. The intensity makes the book a page-turner.
December 28, 2016
Advanced word play.
December 31, 2015
A heroic book.
March 30, 2018
Hannah Sanghee Park's collection of poems "The Same-Different" is full of poems revolving around witty word play. They are especially interesting because she has not neglected her personal investment in the underlying topics so a great deal of insight and emotion are provided. Structurally, many are narrow poems with the contrast in words meaning one thing slipping to an alternate meaning further down in another stanza.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews