Cheer Up, Femme Fatal by Kim Yideum and translated by Ji Yoon Lee

This is poetry from Korea, Republic of.

Cheer Up, Femme Fatal by Kim Yideum translated by Ji Yoon Lee is published by Action Books. This is a Book originally written in Korean. This was published in 2016.0 and has the ISBN of 9.780989804899E12.

Cheer Up, Femme Fatale, by Kim Yideum and translated by Ji Yoon Lee, carries a title that is both funny and menacing. The phrase sounds like bad advice given to someone who has already decided to become a problem. Kim Yideum’s Korean poetry often moves through gender, performance, sexuality, pop violence, and the absurdity of being expected to remain charming under pressure. I would read this book as a refusal of feminine palatability. Its energy is likely sharp, theatrical, self-aware, and a little dangerous. Ji Yoon Lee’s translation has to carry the tonal switchbacks: irony, anger, seduction, deflation, speed. This is the kind of contemporary poetry collection that reminds me a poem can be a room, a weapon, a joke, and a mirror all at once.

If you’d like to see international poetry continue and gain traction, consider requesting this work from your local library, or purchasing it from places like Open Books (a poetry only bookstore), Asterism Books (an independent press distributor), or bookshop.org to connect you with your local bookstores.

Check out more of the always in-progress translated poetry index here.