Wayne Karlin has published nine novels, a collection of short stories and three works of non-fiction. His poetry has been published in many print and on-line journals. He has received two Fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Paterson Prize in Fiction, the Juniper Prize for Fiction, and the Vietnam Veterans of American Excellence in the Arts Award.
PRAISE:
“Heart-breakingly beautiful, Wayne Karlin’s poetry shows us how to gain strength from pain and sorrow, how to live with dignity and compassion in a world of cruelty and violence, and how to survive when our loved ones are taken away from us. In these poems, language becomes a bridge between the living and the dead, where not just tears are shed, but love is exchanged. Drinking with the Enemy offers eternal songs for peace and love, written by a poet who stared death in the eye from the days of his youth, to know that to live is not to be afraid of speaking the truth. If you read one poetry collection this year, please read this one.”
–Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, internationally best-selling author of The Mountains Sing and Dust Child
Wayne Karlin helps me keep my Buddhist vow – to face reality. Do not turn away. Face war. Face the torture that we wrought even upon children. And should we come home, what/whom do we come home to? The Poet guides us to know our human capabilities.
–Maxine Hong Kingston, author of The Woman Warrior, China Men, The Fifth Book of Peace, and other works
Drinking with the Enemy is a solid addition to the work of novelist and short story writer Wayne Karlin. He easily adapts the language of poetry to his highly visual, rhythmic narrative style, and the poems collected here have the weight of all his writing, entrancing readers while holding their attention. Beloved by many Vietnamese writers for his activism and unbreakable friendship, over the postwar years Karlin has bridged a gap with Vietnam that few artists or veterans have had the ability or opportunity to attempt. No doubt the Vietnamese, from a culture that treasures poetry, will translate and view this work as a vital part of the Wayne Karlin bibliography. U.S. readers of his work will discover it is that and more.
–George Evans, author of The New World, Sudden Dreams, Wrecking, andEspejo de la tierra, a bilingual collection translated by Daisy Zamora, and other collections of poetry and essays
Wayne Karlin for more than 40 years has used literature to document and come-to-terms with the Viet Nam War. Drinking with the Enemy is his most powerful writing yet–Karlin’s feelings distill into a language that burrows into your heart; and his experiences, so vivid, are impossible to forget. “We tasted red mud and fire and bitter cordite and brass.” Reality changed by exquisite perception is what we call Art. Art stays, and Karlin’s words are essential to keep war’s sorrow and cruelties from floating away in time.
–Grace Cavalieri, Maryland’s tenth Poet Laureate, author of The Long Game: Works Selected and New and other works.
These poems and prose vignettes—so dense that they too are poetry—range from the Vietnam War to the Greek classics to the loss of beloved pets and even more beloved partners. They reveal the beauty of grief, celebrate the necessity of sorrow, and ultimately reaffirm the value and goodness of life. I come away from this little collection feeling hopeful.
–W. D. Ehrhart, author of Thank You for Your Service: Collected Poems and other works
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