My Dear Yeast

“In the first poem of Han’s debut collection, My Dear Yeast, the child who would become the poet observes a wheelbarrow making its way through a drought-ridden town with its “mound of skin and bones,” the bodies of children. It is a wheelbarrow, she will recognize with bracing, moving insight, that is “rusty and laden / with the world.” Han’s poems, as diverse in their formal embodiments as in their languages—English, Swahili, Korean—unfold a twenty-first century coming of age story that spans cultures, geographies, personal and historical traumas. Hyo-In, the poet’s Korean name, means “wisdom from dawn;” Melanie, the poet’s English name, means “dark.” In My Dear Yeast the reader finds poems that range stirringly across this most multifarious and widest of contraries.”

“The multilingual realities of Melanie Hyo-In Han’s images from Korea(n diaspora), Africa(n scenes), and “The West,” invites us to belong, but also acknowledge that her being and existence resist too much familiarity. Her kaleidoscopic humanity is foreign and familiar, impossible to replicate, which leaves us yearning for the satisfaction of fitting in society (as if it were one) or in our own bodies (in plural because we have many). Her poems long for water, roots, or family, or life, or love, or home, or a house, or beauty, or a body, or belongingness, or (in)visibility, or all them because they can all be paradoxically the same. They address family, friends, foes, sanity, sexuality, solitude, community, company, calm. The multifaceted life of a TCK can be uncanny even for those of us who are TCKs.”

“Melanie Hyo-In Han’s debut My Dear Yeast muses on the speaker’s experiences as a “TCK” a Third Culture Kid’s life making sense of her positionality as she lives across the world. From East Africa to Korea to the United States, the speaker journeys through language and poetic forms to provide rich material as evidence of living with complicated relationships to the land and to the various selves she embodies. Grown from her chapbook Sandpaper Tongue, Parchment Lips this volume represents a debut with heart and wisdom learned through the rawness of exposing one’s interiority.”

“Incorporating an interesting variety of forms, this collection of poems combines the simplicity of plain-spoken description with powerful imagery to recount searing experiences as a third culture kid. In “Drought, 1999,” where the lines depicting a wheelbarrow “carrying/ out a mound/ of skin and bones / children /who at least no longer felt” are heart-rending, we are reminded that the end of the 20th century was not the same for everyone. Again referencing “the memories I blocked out/ of the many droughts,” the poem titled “But this is a pain I enjoy” describes the pleasures of a hot bath; contrasted with the struggles around both fire and water, it makes a remarkable impression. In “and you told me,” the poet’s unapologetic anger against all-too-common cultural condescension is affecting. The culturally-rich ebb and flow move and educate the reader throughout the collection.”

“If you enjoyed “Sandpaper Tongue, Parchment Lips,” you will enjoy this immensely engaging and moving collection. Melanie Han wows again with turns of phrase that delight and ignite emotion. I always enjoy reading from this prolific writer and highly recommend this collection to anyone trying to find their identity in the foray we call life.”

“Han’s collection weaves a thread of diaspora and the resulting internal and external struggles, creating an intricate tapestry of the cognitive dissonance felt by anyone who aims to honor both past and present. Han’s artful collection presents poetry in a multitude of forms that embrace the nuances of language and sound. She explores the intersection of culture and identity with unrivaled honesty. In the poem “traditions”, Han writes, “but i know all too well that tradition speaks louder/than common sense.” Her poetry reminds us of what we all feel but cannot put into words.”