No Surrender

In No Surrender, her final collection, Ai returns again to the form of the dramatic monologue for which she is best known. Haunting, flinty, and full of characteristic dark humor, these poems display the "raw power, jagged edges and unflinching examination of violence and despair" (New York Times) that Ai has been praised for.

A disillusioned Irish nun moves to America, meets Elvis, and rediscovers her faith. An amputee goes on a strange journey during a hurricane. Each of the speakers in this book has a uniquely American story to tell, one that is told with bravery and ambition and that displays the indomitability of the human spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

from "Cancer Chronicles"

She was traveling at the speed of light, Although it took her years To reach her final destination, And once there, she found she wasn't anywhere in particular. She was alone on the prairie where she'd been born To a very young mother When the howling wind enveloped her in bony arms And whispered, "What took you so long?"

Ai (1947-2010), is the author of seven previous books of poetry, including the National Book Awarduwinning Vice. She described herself as being one-half Japanese, one-eighth Choctaw, one-quarter Black, and one-sixteenth Irish, a mixed heritage that heavily influenced her work. Throughout her long career she was honored with awards from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 2009 she was named a United States Artists Ford Fellow. She was a professor of English at Oklahoma State University.