Names for Light: A Family History

"Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint – born in Myanmar (formerly Burma) – was raised in Thailand until age 8, when her family immigrated to San Jose, Calif., which she describes as “a place with strip malls, ranch-style houses, and foothills in every direction,” a place she still has “no name for.” Composed in compressed, laser-sharp interrogations of immigration and prejudice, colonialism and inheritance, Names for Light reads like poetry. Language – and its absence – are central to Myint’s narrative. Pages contain blocks of empty space, signifying memory/ies lost to geographic displacement. In its power, intensity and visual presentation, Names for Light evokes recent works of Claudia Rankine."