Iep Jāltok : Poems from a Marshallese Daughter.

Iep Jāltok: Basket, [one]-- Lōktan̄ūr -- Liwātuonmour -- Lidepdepju -- Ettoļǫk Ilikin Lǫmeto.-- History project: Hooked -- The letter B is for -- History project -- Fishbone hair. -- Lessons from Hawai'i: Flying to Makiki Street -- My rosy cousin -- To Laura Ingalls Wilder -- Bursts of Bianca -- On the couch with Būbū Neien -- Lessons from Hawai'i -- The monkey gate -- Lost at sea -- Crash -- Last days in the bay. -- Tell them: Spoken Marshallese lesson nine -- Just a rock -- Campaigning in Aur -- Tell them -- Lavendar saltwater -- Dear Matafele Peinam -- There's a journalist here -- Two degrees -- Basket, [two].

"Iep Jāltok is a collection of poetry by a young Marshallese woman highlighting the traumas of her people through colonialism, racism, forced migration, the legacy of nuclear testing by America, and the impending threats of climate change"--Provided by publisher.

As the seas rise, the fight intensifies to save the Pacific Ocean’s Marshall Islands from being devoured by the waters around them. At the same time, activists are raising their poetic voices against decades of colonialism, environmental destruction, and social injustice.

Marshallese poet and activist Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner’s writing highlights the traumas of colonialism, racism, forced migration, the legacy of American nuclear testing, and the impending threats of climate change. Bearing witness at the front lines of various activist movements inspires her work and has propelled her poetry onto international stages, where she has performed in front of audiences ranging from elementary school students to more than a hundred world leaders at the United Nations Climate Summit.

The poet connects us to Marshallese daily life and tradition, likening her poetry to a basket and its essential materials. Her cultural roots and her family provides the thick fiber, the structure of the basket. Her diasporic upbringing is the material which wraps around the fiber, an essential layer to the structure of her experiences. And her passion for justice and change, the passion which brings her to the front lines of activist movements—is the stitching that binds these two experiences together.

Iep Jāltok will make history as the first published book of poetry written by a Marshallese author, and it ushers in an important new voice for justice.

Some text in Marshallese.