Guest People is a hybrid collection of poetry, fiction, and photos. The title comes from the English translation of Hakka, Han people who migrated within China over centuries and formed a distinct subculture. As an Asian American who is Hakka by way of Thailand on my mom’s side and Dutch, English, German, and Irish on my dad’s side, the title reflects a persistent, intergenerational sense of otherness, border crossing, and a longing for home.
Advance Praise for Guest People
Guest People is a dazzling book of love, scattering and gathering across generations and continents. Phillips takes us from Market Basket to Bangkok to the air. Her wry tenderness is lit by evocative music—the lyricity is strong in this one—and wit, and joy, aching joy.
—Peter Jay Shippy, author of five books, including Kaputniks (Saturnalia Books) and Thieves’ Latin,
winner of the Iowa Poetry Prize
Guest People is both an ache and a balm. Physical losses—shelter, possessions, even hair—are accompanied by racism’s intangible costs, which she illuminates with care and precision. Subjected to both unwanted stares and unasked-for invisibility, her speaker deploys irony to exquisite effect. Nimble rhythms, razor-sharp line breaks, and fluid forms shine throughout this collection. Guest People is a generous garden of jewel-like pieces, glimmering with fire and depth.
—Carolyn Oliver, author of Inside the Storm I Want to Touch the Tremble,
winner of the Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry
In an age of heightening national borders, the poems, stories, and photographs in this slim but generous book open doors—
—Catherine Gander, associate professor of American Literature at Maynooth University, Ireland,
to memory, to survival, and above all, to love.
and author of Muriel Rukeyser and Documentary: The Poetics of Connection, Sea Between Us
(co-authored), and Matches (forthcoming)