Earlier this afternoon, Sunbirth author An Yu paid a visit to The Ink Book Club, and we talked with her about why and how she created the world of Five Poems Lake. We cleared up a few mysteries around this gorgeous and thought-provoking book, but left many open questions — no surprise, as we talked so much about how fiction is a collective experience of writers and readers coming together to make meaning out of the world. We also learned:
How the music of Swans and the films of David Lynch inspired the book
Why An Yu thinks in Chinese and writes in English, and the unique perspective working between two linguistic worlds gives her work
And why she cut the outside world from her novel — and how that let her get at bigger truths
It was an altogether fascinating conversation, which you can view by clicking on the video player above.
We bid a fond farewell to Sunbirth, which will long remain in our hearts, and look forward to our next book, poet Kevin Young’s new collection, Night Watch. We hope you’ll join us!
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