Customs: Poems

"After the 2016 success of her debut Look, a National Book Award finalist, the American poetry world waited eagerly for Solmaz Sharif’s next collection. Customs came out in March, shortly after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, and reading it felt very relevant to the moment’s volatility. In fact, Customs is rooted in unrootedness; migration, borders and displacement are all themes in Sharif’s poems. This book asks us to consider how powerful language can be, and to use it carefully."