The South Korean military’s massacre of students in the 1980 Gwangju Uprising inspires a poetry of grief as Don Mee Choi delves into the violent contemporary history of South Korea.

Shortlisted for the 2025 PEN Heaney Prize

‘Mirror Nation offers the best of what poetry can provide—a new way of seeing.’ Firecracker Awards,

Don Mee Choi delves into South Korea’s violent recent history, particularly the military’s massacre of hundreds of students taking part in the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, in a poetry of grief that is both personal and collective. Mirror Nation is a sorrowful reflection on the ways in which a place can hold a ‘magnetic field of memory’.

‘Don Mee Choi draws on friendships, literature and documentary materials to elucidate the personal griefs we suffer under the assaults of empire. Formally explosive and emotionally harrowing, Mirror Nation is a riveting investigation into the coded images that fuse memories of different times and places.’ Forrest Gander, Poetry Society Book of the Year 2024

‘From Ethiopia to Israel, Nicaragua to Afghanistan, she ties headlines and fragments using the equal sign, which she refers to as “a syntax that enables multiple places and times to coexist simultaneously.” Choi skilfully illustrates the cyclical, endless nature of violence to more deeply understand her home, herself, and the world.’ Publishers Weekly