The Glass Constellation

Winner of the 2024 National Book Foundation Science + Literature Award

"This book is an overwhelming feast, a treasure, and more than enough proof that Sze is a major poet." -NPR

National Book Award winner Arthur Sze is a master poet, and The Glass Constellation is a triumph spanning five decades, including ten poetry collections and twenty-six new poems. Sze began his career writing compressed, lyrical poems influenced by classical Chinese poetry; he later made a leap into powerful polysemous sequences, honing a distinct stylistic signature that harnesses luminous particulars, and is sharply focused, emotionally resonant, and structurally complex. Fusing elements of Chinese, Japanese, Native American, and various Western experimental traditions-employing startling juxtapositions that are always on target, deeply informed by concern for our endangered planet and troubled species-Arthur Sze presents experience in all its multiplicities, in singular book after book. This collection is an invitation to immerse in a visionary body of work, mapping the evolution of one of our finest American poets.