Debut collection of poems that weaves stories of family history, war,
and migration.
Dong Li's The Orange Tree is a collection of narrative poems that
braids forgotten legends, personal sorrows, and political upheavals into
a cinematic account of Chinese history as experienced by one family.
Amid chaos and catastrophe, the child narrator examines a yellowed
family photo to find resemblances and learns a new language, inventing
compound words to conjure and connect family stories. These invented
words and the calligraphy of untranslated Chinese characters appear in
lists separating the book's narrative sections.
Li's lyrical and experimental collection transcends the individual,
placing generations of family members and anonymous others together in a
single moment that surpasses chronological time. Weaving through stories
of people with little means, between wars and celebrations, over bridges
and walls, and between trees and gardens, Li's poems offer intimate
perspectives on times that resonate with our own. The result is an
unflinching meditation on family history, collective trauma, and
imaginative recovery.
The Orange Tree is the recipient of the inaugural Phoenix Emerging
Poet Book Prize for 2023.