Ma Jian, one of the sharper observers of contemporary China, though living in exile for 30 years, says this era resembles that of the Cultural Revolution.
In “A Cruelty Special to Our Species,” Emily Jungmin Yoon memorializes the Korean “comfort women” who were forced into prostitution during World War II.
The author, most recently, of the poetry collection “Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart” feels a duty to read about countries devastated by war: “The suffering, usually for the most vulnerable, never ends.”
Terrance Hayes’s hybrid nonfiction book “To Float in the Space Between” pays homage to the poet Etheridge Knight, with room for personal detours and meditation.
“Selected Poems: 1950-2012,” and “Essential Essays: Culture, Politics, and the Art of Poetry,” are laden with insights that, six years after Rich’s death, remain as urgent as ever.