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About the Work
A fluid blend of poetic forms, Reacquaint urges the reader to look back at how far they have come. There is a clarity that becomes apparent as our earlier selves pass into the rearview, and Thung stands in this first light of distance, reflecting back on all that has been said and done. Flowing through embodiment and illness, burgeoning adulthood, and the emotional detritus of loves lost and found, Thung’s poems are narrational and intimate. Peppered with questions and lines inviting introspection, Reacquaint tells one side of a story, leaving each reader to find their own You.
3 Questions
Allison Thung
INK: What most inspires you to write?
A.T.: Daily mundanity and memories, reconsidered from an unusual perspective to unearth new and unexpected insights. Also love acute that has nowhere to go but on the page.
INK: What does your writing routine look like?
A.T.: I alternate between phases of writer’s block and intense creativity, and I’ve come to accept that my writing practices—can’t really call it a routine—cannot defy this cycle. In the former phase, I focus on making detailed notes whenever I have an idea; in the latter, I try to draft something daily, even if it’s just a few words.
INK: Name a favorite poem you feel everyone should read and why.
A.T.: A recent favourite is Alison Lubar’s “Pancakes with Ojisan,” which so poignantly captures the ache of being “othered.”
Q&A with C.W. Bryan
C.W. Bryan: When I was reading this collection, I was so consistently blown away by your prose poems. What is it about this form that you love?
A.T.: Thank you so much. I love prose poems for their unique cadence and flow; this insistence or urgency the form embodies. I also adore that prose poems allow for the comfortable coexistence of straightforward storytelling and poetic devices.
C.W. Bryan: The names of each section, Reshape, Reflect, Reimagine, Release, mirror the title of the collection, Reacquaint. I would love to know more about your relationship and intent in regard to the titles of the book and each section.
A.T.: I was advised that the manuscript would benefit from signposting, so I mapped out the poems, listing the form and key themes and imagery of each to see what larger patterns existed across pieces. From that exercise, four categories—adapting to a new reality, delving into tendencies and memories, considering impossible or unrealistic alternatives, and letting go of the unchangeable past—naturally emerged. Those became the sections of Reshape, Reflect, Reimagine, and Release, which then fed up into the larger concept of a speaker getting reacquainted with herself following a pivotal diagnosis, hence Reacquaint.
