Book reviews
“Le Pham Le’s poetry carries a fresh power in the clean simplicity of its images and in its depth of genuine feeling. Her poetic habits are those of Viet Nam’s sung ca dao poetry. Bringing this to English and America is a gift.”
-JOHN BALABAN, poet and translator of Spring Essence: The Poetry of Ho Xuan Huong
“From Where The Wind Blows, a new collection of poetry by Le Pham Le, is a collage of vivid memories of her first homeland and of her journey to her new one. It is filled with love and hope. The winds which have blown her to California have not erased her memories of the past, but brightened her hopes for the future. Would we all be so windblown.”
-DR. ALEXANDER MCLEOD, Viet Tide
“Le Pham Le’s poetry, while articulates with rare aroma and imagination, skillfully negotiates life’s tensions and sorrows. Aesthetically, it alerts the reader to the prospect of harmony and hints of novel possibilities for a richer creativity. It also has the magical power to entrance and to re-direct one’s attention. The poems are enchanting and beautifully translated.”
-DR. QUANG PHU VAN, Yale University
“This is truly an outstanding book with finely crafted poems and splendid translation…. After all, it is the sheer beauty and sensuousness of Le Pham Le’s poetry that wins the heart. In ‘Who Creates the Wind,’ she writes, ‘Oh, no! Don’t place my photograph on the altar yet/an angel has brought me safe to shore…’ Her great good fortune, and ours.”
-DR. SUSAN KEPNER, author of THE LIONESS IN BLOOM
“Thi tap Gio Thoi Phuong Nao chua dung mot noi dung tinh cam rat phong phu day tinh nhan ban. Tinh yeu que huong, gia dinh, thay tro, ban be duoc the hien qua nhung van tho nhe nhang, dung di, chan phuong ma rat goi cam nen de di vao long nguoi.”
-NHU HOA LE QUANG SINH, President of the VIETNAMESE INTERNATIONAL POETRY SOCIETY
Indeed, Le Pham Le’s poetry stirs the heart. Her story is powerful, revealing, and real. Her determination is untouchable. And her words are lovely - as lovely as the wind dancing over wavelets early in the evening on a summer night.
-DIANE BUCCHERI, Editor of OCEAN Magazine