American Radiance

Winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Poetry, American Radiance,at turnsfunny, tragic, and haunting,reflects on the author's experience immigrating as a child to the United States fromUkraine in 1991. What does it mean to be an American? Luisa Muradyandoesn't try to provideananswer. Instead, the poems in American Radiance look for a home in history, folklore, misery, laughter, language, and Prince's outstretched hand. Collidingwith the grand figures of late '80s and early '90spop culture, Muradyan's imagination pushes the reader forward,confronting the painful loss of identity that assimilation brings.