All Heathens

by Marianne Chan

All Heathens is a declaration of ownership―of bodies, of histories, of time. Revisiting Magellan’s voyage around the world, these poems explore the speaker’s Filipino American identity by grappling with her relationship to her family and notions of diaspora, circumnavigation, and discovery. Whether rewriting the origin story of Eve (“I always imagined that the serpent had the legs of a seductive woman in black nylons”), or ruminating on what-should-have-been-said “when the man at the party said he wanted to own a Filipino,” Chan paints wry, witty renderings of anecdotal and folkloric histories, while both preserving and unveiling a self-identity that dares any other to try and claim it.

Genres: Poetry, Poetry Plays, Asia, Asian Literature, Memoir, Family, Asian American

96 pages, Paperback

First published March 24, 2020

Reviews

[Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sealey Challenge 2024: 25/31

Another success of the Sealey Challenge; another new favorite has been found! This collection was amazing as both a history of the poet and providing glimpses of the history of The Philippines. The poems are easy to envision and the prose is sharp, cutting deep into the feelings of the reader. I hope to get a physical copy to annotate my favorite poems as there were many within this collection. I also can't wait to read more from Marianne Chan in the future!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this so very much. Wonderful skillful poems, touching and interesting and full of history.

[Ken]

Marianne Chan grew up in Germany and Michigan but is a native of the Philippines. This plays heavily in her debut collection, as she looks both back (parents, grandparents, her own childhood) and forward (her own family) in figuring out the world from this new and sometimes confusing vantage point called America.

Although I found the first two parts a bit stronger than the last two, there's no denying that, for a first collection of poetry, this is very good stuff. Chan is particularly adept at imagery and sound devices. Always welcome, too? A sense of humor.

There are themes here, and one is rooted in history, as Chan devotes a series of poems to men involved with Ferdinand Magellan's ill-fated visit to the Philippines. Alas, circumnavigation of the globe would have to navigate without Magellan after that visit.

Nevertheless, Chan finds much to mine in this first colonial foray from Europe. Her poem "Love Song for Antonio Pigafetta" is dedicated to the young Italian who left the best narrative of Magellan's trip. Subsequent poems capitalize on this theme as the narrator takes to addressing Antonio as "Tony." You may read them straight up or tongue in cheek.

Here is a sample poem, originally appearing in Shenandoah:


Momotaro in the Philippines

Here, peaches come from boxes
that smell like Europe, from cans
made of a tin-coated steel.
I lie with the peaches soaking in
saccharine darkness until freed.
I don’t recognize the children
who run toward me. Their faces
like the feathers on the feet
of birds. Their slippers repeating that
melancholic drone. Wake up, they say.
Wake up. And as I rise from
the dreamy fluid—oh, the America
which preserves me—I press
my sticky forehead on your sun-
freckled hand. I love you, am sorry,
am not a warrior, no hero. I
fight for nothing, am stingy. I ate
all the peaches from the can
from the box from which I came.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marianne Chen is a brilliant poet and has stolen my heart forever! I have so much respect for the story-teller who can transport their reader to another place or emotion effortlessly and she did that for me from start to finish.

This collection is phenomenal. I am absolutely overjoyed to have had the opportunity to read such distinct and artfully written poetry by a Filipino author. This book speaks to the multiple layers of loss and distance experienced by the Filipino diaspora, alongside the history, inherited memory, and enduring closeness between people that reaches across oceans and generations.

[Adrien Julious · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marianne Chan is a phenomenal writer. Her observances take the reader on an emotional eye-opening exploration of the highest order. From Momotaro in the Philippines, “And as I arise from the dreamy fluid- oh, the America, which preserves me.” to Counterargument That Goes All the Way Around, “making country out of family, family out of country,“

[Dylan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read All Heathens over the course of a quiet Saturday afternoon, and I am so glad I did. Favorite poems from this collection include: "Some Words of the Aforesaid Heathen Peoples," "Forgive Them for They Do Not Know What," "The Lives of Saints, "Seafood City," and "Origin Story."

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are such great poems!

[Caitlin]

All Heathens is a beautiful, sometimes aching exploration of self and family, place and tongue, history and coloniality.

[Karis · Rating 4 out of 5]

living in the crosshairs of transpacific crossings and colonial histories of war and being "asian american" while having one's livelihood and the movements of one's family defined and regulated by being in the u.s. military!!1!1! the repetition of motifs in this collection are *chef's kiss*, and while we have emerged from our experiences (or more accurately, are still emerging and will always be emerging from them) with different faiths, we share a lot of the same questions. also the poetry is just so sharp and smart and challenging.

[Ida · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot of depth in these poems. Chan does an good job speaking not only to readers who have similar backgrounds, but drawing in readers who don't, helping us to see what the world looks like outside of our own narrow view, while hitting on universal human experiences -- the struggles of identity, place, family, connection.

While reading her poem "When the Man at the Party Said He Wanted to Own a Filipino," I cringed so hard because we've all encountered the person who would get drunk and say something like that. And then the spooling out of thoughts about how to respond, about what strategies to employ to be able to exist in the world. "I call it a safety smile."

[Becky Robison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may be biased, because Marianne is a friend, but I think this book of poetry is remarkable. I am sure this is not how Marianne wrote it, but it feels like she read a history book and then dreamt of The Philippines, the past and present and personal and global all mashed together, and wrote it down the next morning. The language is mostly plain, which should ground the poems, make them realist, but instead makes the imagery more surreal. Loved this collection.

*Please note that I copied and pasted this review from my blog

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so deeply loved this, no, felt this in my very bones. The sly beauty and wit of the language, the way the personal histories twine with Magellan's arrival in the Philippines—I did not grow up with much Filipino-American literature and that I am living, reading, and writing in a time with so many Pinay writers like Marianne is a dearly held dream.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do love her engagement with colonialism, family, history.

[raine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderfully cohesive Filipino American poetry collection tied together by the theme of circumnavigation and Magellan's voyage

[Juliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

“God knows I am a cavern that refuses to be filled.” From the opening poem, ‘Momotaro in the Philippines’, Marianne Chan’s All Heathens is an exquisite exploration of memory and history, both personal and public, often concerned with specific bridges between the two, as in ‘When the Man at the Party Said He Wanted to Own a Filipino’ — Chan confides: “But I said nothing. At that party, I wanted / to be liked, which is my tragic flaw. I always find myself / on the street smiling at people who look to be neo-Nazis. // I call it a safety smile.” Later in the same poem, a hideously perfect image: “the soul inside of me nearly choked on its / own regurgitations”. ‘On Buzz Aldrin’s Birthday’ melds moon imagery and space history with familial anecdote, arriving at sharp epiphanies: “People, our bodies: / always at a point of departure.” I enjoyed the irreverent ‘Which Came First’, ‘The Lives of Saints’, ‘Forgive Them for The Do Not Know What’, the latter two particularly for their playfulness with Catholic doctrine and symbolism in the modern world. So too ‘Origin Story’, rewriting Eve: “That’s a myth. The truth of the story: after us, there will be another, then another, then another.” I loved ‘With’: “The words become // Bed after bed / Of daffodils gone wet // The night divides / Over and over”, and “After death, does one feel / The image // Of the self, repeating / Over and over”. Meditations on the past and predestination are rife, and so powerful in poems like ‘Some Words of the Aforesaid Heathen Peoples’, where Chan recognises “all the / things that have been and will be forgotten, so I’m writing this down.”

[maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

“…No one
who has died has ever returned, has ever
grown back from the loam. We prayed
for resurrections, but the dead remain
as memories that seem to shrink
in the mind, like an airplane appearing
smaller further it gets from the ground.”
(An excerpt from the poem ”My Mother Tells Me About Lolo” found in ALL HEATHENS by Marianne Chan)

I grew up in a household that revered the Santo Niño (Child Jesus) so of course, I was naturally drawn to this book when @pilartyping posted about it on her page (+ the irony of the title is hilarious).

ALL HEATHENS by Marianne Chan is a poetry collection that retells anecdotal narratives and folkloric histories.

It’s a poetry collection that travels across countries and continents, sometimes recalling Marianne Chan’s experience growing up Filipino (more specifically, Cebuano) in Michigan and Germany, sometimes following Magellan’s circumnavigation and his “discovery” of the Philippines.

Marianne Chan’s witty personality shines through her poems, along with a touch of irreverence (making it more fun for me).

I felt nostalgic and a sense of understanding reading these poems. I closed the book remembering the sweetness of canned peaches, the feeling of sleeping beneath a mosquito net, and the bustle of airports.

My favorite poems in the collection are “Lansing Sinulog Rehearsal, 2010” and “My Mother Tells Me About Lolo.”

[Quoth the Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

"At that party, I wanted / to be liked, which is my tragic flaw"

Marianne Chan's book "All Heathens" dissects the Filipino diaspora, navigating Ferdinand Magellan's journey to the Phillippines against the Filipino American experience. As a Filipino American, I am biased towards this collection because I felt culturally connected to what Chan writes. "Like the moon, home changes / shape, size, and skin. Tonight, / the moon looks as thin / as a sip of wine" Chan showcases humor behind sadness, beauty within the disgusting, love where there is absence. It reminded me of being amongst my family which speaks to Chan's openness when writing this collection. This felt like a collection made for us.

"Our children are now the clocks at which / we glance to measure how long, how distant, how cruel."

On top of Chan's use of poetic double entendre, this collection is incredibly cohesive and well designed. "All Heathens" observes the concepts of family, love, destruction, but maintains that light can be seen anywhere. That a scarred heart is still a heart.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Representation is important, and that is what I've found in the poems of Marianne Chan. As Rick Barot wrote in his review of this book, "When the outsiders, barbarians, and heathens finally tell the complicated truths of their experiences, the result is poetry like Chan's." I am so thankful for her poems, written from a female, half-Filipina perspective.

Chan is quick-witted and direct, and her command of language is impeccable. Using the circumnavigation of Ferdinand Magellan and Antonio Pigafetta as a backdrop, Chan charts her own course, her sharpness and wit eclipsed only by her tenderness and love.

Rooted in folklore, a family's past, Filipino tradition, and even older histories, All Heathens is a book every Asian American should read. Chan is frank about the nuances and injustices of the past, wry and bright in her retelling, and sweet and true in her wording. She does not merely unveil the past; she claims it. She is cartographer, navigator, and explorer all in one.

[alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 / 5

Teetered the line between being resonant and corny. I felt she rambled at times, there were instances where I found some works could have benefited from being more succinct. As a Filipina reader, a lot of the metaphors were overplayed and too on the nose for me.

In the same vein, there were unapologetically tender, familiar moments that made my heart sing but with a title involving heathens, I found her language could have cut deeper, struck harder than it did. Still, I did have a good time overall!

Standouts:

‘With’ & ‘Viewing Service’

[Stephen Ramsek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately this really fell flat for me. There were only a few glimmers of what felt like real emotional authenticity and the poems about Magellan’s slave were clearly heartfelt, they just seemed irrelevant. If a poet wants to depict injustice or pain they should either depict something that’s immediate that way the reader will be confronted or else they need to take the time to really develop the character or the historical setting so the person can be properly empathized with. Chan’s treatment seemed opportunistic and insincere, even if it wasn’t intended to be that way

[Radish · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent poetry collection. Marianne Chan beautifully explores the experience of growing up as a Filipino, from family gatherings to religious celebrations and to cultural differences. She also ponders about different historical figures and how they have affected her life many years into the future. I could relate to many of these poems, and it was so nice to see my life reflected in these poems.

[Alma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book of poetry from Marianne Chan. Some of her poems in the collection were inspired by the writings of Antonio Pigafetta, a Venetian explorer, who was with Magellan when he killed in the Philippines in 1521 and a fascinating read from a non-European perspective. Chan shares poems about her Filipino family and experiences across the globe. I particularly loved her poems about her visits to the Philippines and relationships with and obligations to family members living there.

[PATRICK · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book today in my family home in Las Vegas and realized I’m three poems away from finishing so I did. Such a gorgeous, gorgeous collection of poems. I see a lot of myself in these poems.

I met her before but I didn’t bring the book to sign with me and I didn’t really want to buy another book just for her to sign it but she was so lovely and warm. She’s sister, let’s say that.

I love the poem dedicated to Buzz Aldrin the most. I think about that a lot.

[Patty Enrado · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Marianne Chan's poems. She wove the theme of the heathen skillfully throughout the collection. The stories of her family in the Philippines were rich and at times tragic - all beautifully rendered. I read her poem, Let's Talk for a Moment, in a recent online issue of the Kenyon Review. It was stunning. I look forward to her next collection.

[Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this for my Common Reading Assignment from Kalamazoo College! I'm not a huge poetry person, but I really liked this collection. I liked the different cultural references, as well as the way each poem told a story. Most of all I liked how the poems weaved together into an overarching story. Solid four stars.

[xtie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Bittersweet.

“If a tree falls in the forest / with no European to hear it, did it really exist before the 1500s? Did it / have a mother to speak of? Was her name Pigafetta?”

“On our landline, long-distance, we call our grandfathers and grandmothers, voices crackling, old and island-beaten, spotted like dalmations.”

[angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

while this is a beautiful look at ancestry on both sides of her lineage, by the end it felt like a love letter to her mom specifically. there are a few people that i immediately, like within the first poem, i want to hand this book to read.

[James Joseph Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everything about this collection. Chan takes us along on a deeply personal journey exploring both the fluidity and the specificity of identity. I can’t wait for her next book.

[Not Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry.

[Theo Yurevitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

And I don’t even like poetry!