Time is a Mother

Ocean Vuong, one of my favourite contemporary poets, expanded his body of work beautifully in Time Is a Mother. ― Observer

A remarkable return: Vuong's unparalleled luminosity of phrase, his perfected pinpoint accuracy of image is here placed alongside a thrilling expansion of voice and gaze which further confirms Vuong as one of the most important poets of his generation. -- Andrew McMillan, author of Physical

I read On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous while on tour and the language often stopped me in my tracks... This summer, I'll be packing his poetry collection... I'm looking forward to being still and having the space to read and reread hispowerful words. -- Dua Lipa ― Guardian, *Summer Books 2023*

These 28 accomplished poems explore grief, trauma, family... Language itself, in all its power and violence, falls under Vuong's incomparable scrutiny. ― Financial Times, *Summer Reads of 2022*

Tender and heartbreaking ... Delving back into the visceral themes that made his 2019 novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous a revelation, Vuong traverses the intensely personal and the broadly political with grace and courage. ― TIME

There's something about Vuong's writing that demands all of your lungs. The succinct line arrangement and absence of full stops in poems... force you to breath heavy. ― Observer

Vuong's... poems passionately and inventively articulate the difficulties of understanding and accepting selfhood alongside the varieties of life beyond it. ― Times Literary Supplement, *Books of the Year*

Not since Emily Dickinson has poetry found such an oceanic openness of the self's quiet laceration and cautious resilience. In Time Is A Mother Ocean Vuong's words are bullets travelling through the page and hitting us with debris resembling our memory of art, love, grief and acts of survival... We find ourselves being salvaged and released into a world where a word, a turn of phrase, or a line makes a difficult moment bearable. There is a violent process of fermentation in Vuong's poems that keeps poetry pungent, truth-seeking and unerasable. -- Kit Fan, author of Diamond Hill

Vuong writes... with such a sensitive scrutiny, breathtaking in its expression. ― Financial Times, *Books of the Year*

[A] stirring collection of poetry. [Vuong] experiments with language and form while probing the aftermath of his mother's death and his determination to survive it. Take your time with these poems, and return to them often. ― Washington Post

An incredibly impactful collection, there's no doubt Time Is A Mother will strike a chord with most. ― Gay Times, *Books of the Year*

A profound and accomplished collection. ― Dazed Digital, *Books to Look Out For 2022*

Heartbreaking and perfect. ― White Review, *Books of the Year*

[An] indispensable collection. ― ArtReview

A gorgeous, moving and awe-inspiring gathering of poems that feel like award-winning short films. These vignettes of loss, grief and love will take your breath away. ― Skinny, *Books of the Year*

About the Author