Overview

"New from Mary Bonina-and particularly timely-LUNCH IN CHINATOWN is a poetry collection inspired by the poet's work teaching the English language to immigrants from Haiti, China, Poland and other European countries, Central, Latin American, and African nations, and others. The poems highlight, as Patrick Sylvain, Professor of Global Studies, states in his introduction, ""the universal nature of human connection, understanding, and a sense of shared humanity in the face of cultural and linguistic differences"" Bonina sees her classes as offering survival skills, and compares her necessarily improvised lessons to the act of writing a poem, ""that familiar process of one word, one thought, leading to another, often unanticipated one, recognizing endless possibilities, and finally settling on the right one in a moment of revelation."""

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9781950063888

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"In this vivid, wonderfully empathetic book of poems, Lunch in Chinatown, Mary Bonina is an inquisitive seeker, not only set to teach English but also to learn about the lives of her immigrant students. There's the student who worked with the very ill and the job did not allow wearing jewelry ""without that ring on her finger/her hand felt too light, made her think/that she wasn't in the world anymore,"" another puzzled over the same abbreviation for Saint and Street, a young man recalled his young love in Port au Prince. In her masterful telling Bonina has given us glimpses of their worlds, both before and after the immigration. These poems celebrate the common human language, of disappointments and loss, aspirations and love, and also how poetry and the resolve of students and their teacher can make all the difference in the world. -Pui Ying Wong, author of Fanling in October In Lunch in Chinatown ""Mary Bonina's eloquent verses breathe life into the seemingly mundane, turning lunchtime into an exploration of the extraordinary moments hidden within our daily routines."" from the Introduction Patrick Sylvain, P.H.D., M.F.A Author, Unfinished Dreams/Rev San Bout (bilingual poetry)"

Author Information

"A fellow of the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Mary Bonina was finalist for the Goldfarb Fellowshipand awarded several residencies, including one at theVCCA retreat, Moulin a Nef, in Auvillar, France. Previouspublications include My Father's Eyes: A Memoir and twopoetry collections-Living Proof and Clear Eye Tea, all fromČerven� Barva Press. Her poems and essays have appearedin The Lowell Review, Hanging Loose, Poets and Writers, Salamander, Mom Egg, Ovunque Siamo, Adelaide, and manyother journals, and her work has been included in severalanthologies, including Entering The Real World, VCCA Poetson Mt. San Angelo from Wavertree Press. Her completednovel, My Way Home, is on submission to publishers. Herpoem ""Drift"" won Boston Contemporary Authors/Urban Artsprize and is carved in a granite monolith, a permanent publicart installation in the City. Bonina has collaborated withcomposers of arts songs and new music, a sculptor, and herwork has been translated into Japanese. She received a fullfellowship from the Vermont Studio Center. A voiceoverartist, she has recorded fiction, non-fiction, and poetry forblind readers. She offers classes, workshops, conferencepresentation, and individual coaching for writers. Bonina hasbeen a long-time member of the Writers Room of Boston, where she served on the Board for more than a decade. Sheearned her M.F.A. in Fiction Writing from the Program forWriters at Warren Wilson College. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her website is www.marybonina.com"

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