This collection of poems is largely autobiographical, telling the turning points in a life that began in war-torn Vietnam. Somehow, unlike many, Teresa and her family survived, although her parents were separated for a long time. She and her mother escaped Vietnam in a ship crowded with hungry, sick, and frightened immigrants, and in time they settled in California, bringing with them their nightmares, their memories, their history and culture. Family is a recurring and insistent theme in this book. Teresa devotes her art to her grandmother, her mother, her brother, her sons. Especially important is the relationship of mother and daughter.
RED THREAD by Teresa Mei Chuc is one of my favorite poetry collections. It documents the experience of Vietnamese refugees via poetry, so brilliant, so painful yet so hopeful it takes my breath away. On the occasion of this book being re-printed, I highly recommend those interested in Vietnam or in good literature to pick it up. The importance of Teresa Mei Chuc’s poetry should be acknowledged. Please read her poem, ‘Agent Orange’ [from the collection] - one of the best poems ever written about this topic. –Dr. Nguyen Phan Que Mai, Internationally bestselling author of THE MOUNTAINS SING
Teresa Mei Chuc’s poems speak from the heart of one woman’s experience, and expand beyond the personal to reveal and record the common experience of multitudes… The American experience, what is it? Chuc’s Red Thread offers us all another piece in this difficult puzzle. –Lowell Jaeger, Editor of New Poets of the American West
Red Thread’s intricate brilliance soars in its arc of personal history bound in with world history, natural history, and all life on earth. These poems weave a luminous spell of interconnecting images, haunting music, and delicate/powerful tropes… Truly, Teresa Mei Chuc’s heart-shaking poems will carry any wayfaring reader home with their beauty, bravery and wisdom. –Susan Deer Cloud, Poet, NEA Fellowship Recipient
Teresa Mei Chuc has a rare ability to convey the indelible damage of war and violence without losing her hold on beauty. Red Thread explores the crossroads of lyrical and documentary forms, and of family and global histories, with a remarkable clarity of attention to both inner and outer experience. –Jan Clausen, Poet, NEA and New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship recipient
