The Trees Witness Everything

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The Best Books of 2022 (So Far)

Victoria Chang’s intriguing new collection is mostly composed of short, symbolic poems using Japanese waka forms. The book has a unique tall, narrow trim size that makes this a literal standout in a section that’s home to no shortage of great poetry. Rarely have I been so captivated by a collection; each brief poem demands your full attention for repeated readings. Though small, these poems have an outsized gravitational pull, like that of a superdense star. Recommended By Keith M., Powells.com

A lover of strict form, best-selling poet Victoria Chang turns to compact Japanese waka, powerfully innovating on tradition while continuing her pursuit of one of life's hardest questions: how to let go.

In The Trees Witness Everything, Victoria Chang reinvigorates language by way of concentration, using constraint to illuminate and free the wild interior. Largely composed in various Japanese syllabic forms called "wakas," each poem is shaped by pattern and count. This highly original work innovates inside the lineage of great poets including W.S. Merwin, whose poem titles are repurposed as frames and mirrors for the text, stitching past and present in complex dialogue. Chang depicts the smooth, melancholic isolation of the mind while reaching outward to name — with reverence, economy, and whimsy — the ache of wanting, the hawk and its shadow, our human urge to hide the minute beneath the light.

"Chang's new book of poetry explores loss, mourning, and redemption through the prism of the Japanese waka. The poet uses this traditional form as a contrast to her contemporary language. While some subjects, such as the loss of her mother, are somber and melancholic, the music of Chang's verse soars with hope." Alta

"The poetry lover in me is thrilled that the world has more of her elegant and lyrical verse, which explores the cycles of grief and loss, and of course, rebirth."Chicago Review of Books

"The poems in The Trees Witness Everything are not necessarily meant to be distinct, in that together they enforce a practice, a timescale, in which each poem contributes. . . to writing as always an epistemological experiment." Los Angeles Review of Books

Born in Detroit, Michigan to Taiwanese immigrants, Victoria Chang was educated at the University of Michigan, Harvard University, and Stanford Business School and holds an MFA in poetry from Warren Wilson. She is the author of six books of poetry, including Obit, which was named a New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2020 and included on Time Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of 2020. She lives in Southern California with her family and serves as the Program Chair of Antioch's Low-Residency MFA Program.