Unexpected Vanilla

by Lee Hyemi, Soje (Translator)

Alternative cover edition of ISBN 1911284509 / 9781911284505

A sensual, surrealist collection by a young feminist poet, in an equally sensuous and sensitive queer translation.

Lee Hyemi’s poetry is characterized by fluidity and wetness, with subjects moving about and soaking in each other through curious means.

Unexpected Vanilla’s exchange of liquids often involves sex, but intercourse can be nonsexual: drinking tea or alcohol, going to the beach, sitting in the same tub, crying, feeling your lover’s sweat on your palm. In this way, Lee explores a wide variety of relationships, attractions, and sensations. Her erotically charged, surrealist sensibility can be traced back to the paintings of Leonor Fini, a bisexual Argentinian artist whom she admires. Lee subverts the titular “vanilla” norm without denying its pleasures.

Detailing various intimacies in her “world of the second person,” which feels clandestine but safe from the threat of exposure, Lee explores the Korean language’s scope for ambiguous gendering. The task of the queer translator is to feel out the subtleties with respect, as one does in life, and not presume heterosexuality. Just as Lee spoke out during the 2016 hashtag movement that began calling out sexual violence within South Korean literary circles, her poems recreate and hold space for agency and queerness in female sexuality.

Genres: Poetry, Queer, LGBT, Asian Literature

74 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 2016

About the author

Lee Hyemi (b. 1988) is the author of three poetry collections and an essay collection. At eighteen, she was one of the youngest winners of the JoongAng Literary Newcomer’s Prize. Her second collection Unexpected Vanilla was shortlisted for the 2021 National Translation Award in Poetry and the 2022 Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation.

Reviews

[Henk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bells, flowers, leafs, seeds, water, rotting, mucous membranes/bodily fluids, foreheads and melting are recurring themes in this bundle. Images are used fast and often in this bundle, but lacked emotional impact for me
A flower, a dream dreamt by water borrowing color - Summer, when I dreamt of vines

Magic realism and dreamlike quality, flowing from image to image like a Can Xue fiction book but without people. Based on the gorgeous cover of Unexpected Vanilla I expected more.
Lee Hyemi offers quite detached poems at the start of the bundle, often seemingly reflective on nature and phenomena but oddly devoid of other people besides unspecified you’s and we’s, and without interaction. The Cupboard with Strawberry Jam at page 16 is the first that features an other person, and is instantly more lively and vibrant in the scenery conjured.

Sometimes while reading I asked myself, what does this mean, it’s so ethereal I got lost:
When shadowless leaves soar
the wet coat of the soul
swells and oozes
- Sleeping Waters
Or
When a determined mind makes a cliff
do the gestures make an early grave out of summer
- Under The Shadow Of Your Hand

Bells, flowers, leafs, seeds, water, rotting, mucous membranes/bodily fluids, foreheads and melting are recurring themes. Images are used fast and often, but it lacks emotional impact and some kind of crystalline, boned out humanity that I would feel compelled by.
There are some nice finds, but overall I found this bundle quite hard to connect with:

I multiply as I am erased
- Trace

you called yourself dirty
I think the truly dirty write
something like this on their blank pages

I tried my best to be beautiful
- A Boil on my Hand

I love ripe things. The things that get helplessly squashed in between.
…
A seed is not the afterlife of a tree, but the original piece that’s been lost.
- erasable seeds

[emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Lips melt with the thought of promises/ like a late spring squandering its life’s worth of lilac’ – ‘The Neighbourhood’

Lee Hyemi’s book of poems had the quality of the kind of poems one writes in the middle of the night, sealed with some kind of strange affection, and to be sent to a lover/friend/stranger for whatever the reasons may be. The poems has a sense of an intimate eavesdropping, or even like ‘being spoken to’ in a whispering way – the narrator/voice is clearly communicating/conveying something to another person – whoever that may be. It explores the journey and process of their relationship rather than a straightforward declaration of their affection/love. Brilliant imagery – vivid and very different/strange ways of incorporating ‘nature’ (symbolically and otherwise) in the poems. The fruity imagery in the poems (and the use of ‘nature’ in general) makes me think of a more graceful and sensual Theodore Roethke. I’m quite in awe of how brilliant the poems are; but I found a few of the poems to be a little lacklustre and they felt like paler/less outstanding version(s) of the other/better poems in the collection. It felt like a careless addition of a few uncertain drafts in a rush. Definitely would have been a 5-star collection if more editing was done.

‘My praying bitch, I am wearing a wilted laurel wreath and watching the stars crash down. Casting a wet forest under my tear ducts. Darkness finally earns its share when it forgets its starry discernment and the past by taking sickness as its true nature.’ – ‘Star of Perfidy’

The first time I visited Paris, I (obviously) went to ‘Shakespeare & Company’ (which by the way, if you haven’t already known – was founded by the legendary Sylvia Beach). I left with a signed copy of Luke Kennard’s The Transition, and a bunch of freshly typewritten poems by Akhmatova, Auden, and Sappho (on heavyweight paper/cards). That was quite a desperately romantic/romance-hungry year/period for me so I had wanted to send one/more of those love poems to a lover if I had met one that I love terribly and seriously enough. But after a couple years of weak and anaesthetising rounds of lukewarm loves/loving, I gave away my Sapphos to one of my closest friends just in case she wanted to use it on Valentine’s Day. Maybe I should have embraced a cheeky mood, and posted the remainders off like how Bathsheba did in Far From the Madding Crowd? I might have shoved my Auden and Akhmatova ones between the pages of an old edition of Wuthering Heights (most appropriately). And/but my point is – Lee Hyemi’s poems would make the most perfect ‘typewritten’/‘handwritten’ poems/letters of love. They carry a very suitable tone for that sort of expressions/gestures.

‘Amok, even as I blink and pull the trigger, the bullet is only fired inward. When you tug at my heartstrings from the outside, watch the hairs of my mad trees flutter in flames.’ – ‘Amok’

I always feel obligated to comment on the translation (with translated literature), esp. when it comes to poetry. I don’t know if this was a completely ‘creative’ translation, or if the translation was more direct. But to me, it feels more like a direct one which was done extremely well. I would stubbornly argue that that is harder to do work with/ do well than a more ‘creative’ poetry translation. Jack Underwood's Solo for Mascha Voice/Tenuous Rooms (not translated poetry, but creative 'replies' to poems of another/different language) which is of an entirely different approach/style in comparison to Lee Hyemi/Lee Soje's writing/work shares a slightly similar form of tender and vulnerable intimacy. Lee Soje is a translator that I’ve been hugely excited to discover/read. They also translated Lee Soho's Catcalling and Choi Jin-Young's To the Warm Horizon. I was introduced to Lee Soho’s poetry by S. Penkevich - his review, and I’ve been trying to get my hands on a copy ever since. I’ve already got Choi’s book waiting for me on my shelves, and I’ve bumped it up my TBR list now that I’ve found myself a solid fan of Lee Soje's translation work.

‘Who linked a tree crown to their veins/ in attempt to understand blood?/ I think about them drinking/ the cooled plant to make green wander/ and the satellites of blood/ inside the boiling air’ – ‘Use of Green’

Other than Sappho, and Edna St. Vincent Millay, I’m ashamed to say that I’ve not read many queer poetry by women. Lee Hyemi’s poems brings to mind a poetic (and complicated) journey and exploration of queer love which reminds me of Mary-Jean Chan’s Flèche (been in my TBR for much too long). During a poetry/creative writing workshop, I’d attended a few years ago, some random guy had said that my unusual play of ‘sounds’ and use of multiple languages in my poems/work reminded him of Chan’s work – all the more reason to read her. I remembered it clearly because that guy came across to me as being grossly over-confident, and rather insensitive, but perhaps he’s right about the comparison? Or maybe it was just a cheap and half-arsed comment? I’ll never know unless I read her.

‘Do the best consolations require indifference/ The moment red becomes runny, the moment runny becomes a query, the time everything thins into a single syllable/ When shadowless leaves soar the wet coat of the soul/ swells and oozes’ – ‘Sleeping Waters’

My interest in creative translation and translated literature has escalated quickly this year after reading one after another of brilliantly translated books (and this one was not any less impressive). Lee Soje recently spoke about translating Korean literature, and in particular – ‘Gender in Contemporary Korean Poetry’ in the podcast arranged and recorded by UCLA’s Center for Korean Studies. It’s about over an hour long, but if you’re interested in translated literature, I think it’s worth a listen (https://www.international.ucla.edu/ck...). Lee Soje is also a contributor/editor of ‘Chogwa’ (an e-zine of translated Korean poetry) which is such a fun one to check out (https://www.chogwa.com/).

‘Using K as a prefix can be positive, as in K-pop, but it’s also used for mockery. The K gets attached to extremely, uncannily Korean phenomena.’ – Lee Soho. (interviewed by Lee Soje, MBT)

In Lee Soho’s interview (by Lee Soje) from MPT (https://modernpoetryintranslation.com...), they discussed the translation of Korean memes, #sexviolenceklit, the ironic use of ‘Oppa’ w/ her relation to disappointing exes/men (sorry K-drama lovers), experimenting with the translation of her poems with the mobile app 'Papago' (which I personally use quite a bit of because of my suddenly-more-serious commitment to my studies of Korean language skills since the start of the fucking ‘plague’). They briefly covered ‘machine translation’ which is a thing that I feel both intrigued and unsure of. Lee Soje’s excitement about translated Latin American literature to Korean made me feel second-hand joy because Latin American literature is another thing that I’ve become very interested in this year. Having read and enjoyed Lee Hyemi’s poetry and Lee Sohe’s translations have only made me more excited and optimistic about the future of translated literature.

‘Writing about someone else’s life is exceptionally difficult. It requires more authorial ethics than any other matter. My brave confession can be a consolation to someone and a trigger to another; it could even cause secondary victimization. I always remind myself of that and tread very carefully.’ – Lee Soho. (interviewed by Lee Soje, MBT)

Overall, this was a very enjoyable read, and it certainly led me to many wonderful discoveries. I am excited, and I look forward to reading everything that Lee Soje has translated.

‘Oh odalisque, you apply rose-apple juice to your lips and forget how to speak./ Is it the holy day of almonds crunching as you clench your teeth?’ Despite having been estranged early in life and lost many cycles, the night becomes the domesticated animal of soft hums because there is a certain warp thread even on discontinuous days.’ – ‘Odalisque on Thursday’

[Eve · Rating 1 out of 5]

I want to like poetry. I really, really want to like it. But damn this book didn't make it easy.
What can I say about this (thankfully) short work? Well... There were words. Some even formed sentences. But they made as much sense as if they were strung together by random word generator. I honestly don't know why I even bothered to finish this. Ehh...

[nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Erotic meets nature. The fear of blood boiling, of flowing too quickly, overflowing in the veins. Fear of clots or bursts, of veins twisting, of some kind of internal pressure that destroys from within and then out. Primal and visceral.

There's always this yearning for touch, to be held, to be kept safe. Nature meets erotic, but there is still fear. Fear from within, fear of the wilderness.

How we carve those fears out, how we deal with them in the solastic pieces of nature can we muster so-called strength to carry our body through thresholds.

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using nature to explore the intimacy between others is a beautiful concept. Sexy and sweet, readers join Lee on the journey of the vulnerabilities of nature and ourselves, how we are as wild and passionate as the fruiting trees, the blossoms, the ripe world during seasons. Read each poem out loud. Listen to the sounds and let the poems reveal yourself as the lively being you are: full of wonder and emotion that dictate how your body moves through the world. We have the wild growing in all of us.

[Himadri ॐ ˚꩜ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine the tinkling of bells and wind chimes. Now imagine it underwater. Now imagine you choking on your own bubbles. That's what unexpected vanilla is. 9.5/10.


Some of my favs:
"On nights I planted fog in every fingertip, I’d open the window like I was touching the foot of a drowned person" - Days of Humidity

LOSS OF LIGHT

On the day of the harvest ceremony I wanted to wash the bottom with melted snow and for my forehead to disappear forever

When I burned my lashes and offered the scent, dry bubbles rose inside my mouth, which was like experiencing the moon for the first time I believed that the day I sewed the wall with a needle tomorrow’s promise would be tied to the hand of the dead

There were four eyes looking at each other with black fabric between them
Inside a throat growing infinitely deeper

When I bury my face in the fading gaze, white birds flee to a thickening forest and my lover’s collar stains brightly Look at the gaze of the blind applause following me all the way into my dreams

I undo all my braids and let them get wet Until the eerie river flows and a ringing in someone’s ears echoes from elsewhere Until the frost fallen on my heart drips thick and dark

[Korea Herald Books Podcast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Check out the full episode here!

In this books episode, we spoke with award-winning literary translator Soje. They have translated Lee Soho’s Catcalling (2021), Choi Jin-young’s To the Warm Horizon (2021) and Lee Hyemi’s Unexpected Vanilla (2020). They also make chogwa, a quarterly e-zine featuring one Korean poem and multiple English translations. More about Soje can be found at: http://smokingtigers.com/soje.

Hosts Beth Eunhee Hong and Naomi Ng ask Soje about their translation process from selecting the work to the final publish, their journey to literary translation, the Korean-English literary translation community, and what they are working on next.

We would love to hear your thoughts about this episode, or suggestions for other Korean books you’d like us to review or discuss. Tweet us (Beth @_paperfetishist / Naomi @ngnaomi) or leave a message on The Korea Herald’s Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram page. You can also email us at bethhong@heraldcorp.com or ngnaomi@heraldcorp.com.

*Click here for our Linktree 👉 https://linktr.ee/khbookspodcast

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully translated, but I didn't feel the collection was totally cohesive.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

How does pain come to claim authority?

(from “A Boil on My Hand”)

Watching the abyss constantly be reborn
lightly, weakly, clearly

you erase your face

(from “World of Breaths”)

Where did we all hide our bodies,
having become detailed insensible inklings

I multiply as I am erased

(from “Trace”)

[kinga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Przyszłam rozkoszy i zachwytu próżna, a wyszłam... hmmm. Wszystkie wiersze działają na zmysły, jakby czytało się nuty głowy, serca i bazy perfum. Ale nie potrafiłam się do nich dostroić. Są pięknie i kwieciście napisane, odpowiadają mojemu poziomowi wrażliwości i ostatecznie to są wiersze miłosne, ale poza tym są po prostu... ok. Albo faktycznie są tylko w porządku, albo ja znów naczytałam się tych italo-hermetyków i już mi się kompletnie w głowie poprzewracało.

(Moja ulubiona część) cytaty:

“Holding the fish jar in which alphabets swim
I step into the world of the second person.”

“I open my mouth wide and kiss the still-remaining atmosphere. Humans forget how to speak with only a kiss.”

“When you breathed — life — into summer
it began through a crack in the door.”

“The moment red becomes runny, the moment runny becomes a query, the time everything thins into a silent syllable.”

“the evening bleeds out
like lovers parting at the border
like the sun collapsing with its face on the water
blurring the boundaries of the world.”

“Oh odalisque, you apply rose-apple juice to your lips and forget how to speak.”

“Shall we fill our mouths with cherries and kiss naughtily knottily all night long.”

“Today as a massive vortex is born inside the open mouth of someone buried at sea.”

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/4.5 rounding down to 4 - this was the fourth poetry collection I read this year and by far my favorite of them. I did not understand most of the poems here, if any of them, which is what prevents me from giving this a 5, but most of the poems here were beautifully constructed and translated brilliantly by Soje. I enjoy surreal, abstract ruminations and impressions, which is very much the vibe here - soft, sensuous, and slow would be how I'd best describe Unexpected Vanilla.

There are a smattering of lines here that I really loved, a few being:

"The body with many footnotes is sad.
Like how all your old bruises will resurface when you die."

"Even if your voice expires your respiration will remain and return as God's inhalation."

"Some lights shine more vividly when they're gone"

"We walk beautifully. We're alike, but we're not one. Umbrellas are always slower than rain, just as thoughts are always slower than blood.

To be alike means to be close. I'm pale, and you're pallid. I'm alone, and you're only one. We're similar, but we're not the same. We fit our roofs together and walk a little closer through the lasting rain."

This was great, I'd highly recommend it.

[Yasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75/5

As I always say with poetry, it is so subjective that it is very hard to review. For me personally, this book didn't do too much. The poems were either a massive hit or a massive miss for me. Some poems really made me linger and appreciate them while some I just wanted to read out loud and be done. However, something about the wording and the flow of the poems kept me engaged.

I do recommend this if you haven't read much East Asian poetry and for those who have read quite a bit, I warn that you might be left wanting for a little bit more.

[Nuria Alvarruiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most beautiful poems ever but the meaning fails to reach me in most of them. I have highlighted more sentences than any other book but i would not be able to explain what this is about other than love and sex in its most romantic sense. Highly recommended if you dont mind not understanding and love to just appreciate beauty. I do.

[Marzipantorte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this best in a tired state when it all flows into each other and is more like a dream. I found it a bit too surrealist for my taste to connect with it as deeply as I would with say Ocean Vuong but there were good moments in the way bodies and the outside world become one and the sensual illogicality of it was fun!

[Dolf van der Haven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Korean poetry in translation.
The translations feel natural, as if the text were originally written in English, so kudos to the translator!
What it all means is often a mystery, though. The flow of the language is the reward, more than its possible meanng.

[Cheryl Hager · Rating 1 out of 5]

As poetry is very subjective, I always hope that the volume I'm reading will be The One I finally understand. This was not. I could grasp parts, but not the whole. Could be that I'm a cis female, but I hope that is not the reason.

[Kathy G · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not like how it was translated at all. Who is this translator?? Soje? I wish the translator provided more thoughtful translations of the original text.

[sacredheart · Rating 3 out of 5]

what’s sadder: the world that freezes or the world that melts away?

why do certain bodies remain stains inside dreams

[Shasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5 🤷‍♀️

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars - I found the imagery more disturbing than thought provoking. Surrealists will love this.

[Esme · Rating 4 out of 5]

As per usual, poetry is still not for me but this was a quick, nice experience anyway.

[ikram · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how Lee Hyemi used nature for a metaphor to express intimacy, familiarity, and vulnerability in between two people. This collection is dreamy and sweet, it gives me a heartwarming feeling—almost like a warm embrace during rainy days, how every words are so romantic and sensuous.