Hardly War by Don Mee Choi Richard Gwyn Somewhere at the core of

Somewhere at the core of all this

who is alert to its insinuating logics and its wild goose chases through popular culture and secret histories

and anyone who can’t stand small lives being trampled

Five Leaves

but it becomes bound up with a family history

Hardly War by Don Mee Choi Richard Gwyn Somewhere at the core ofHardly War, first published in the USA in 2016 and finally published in the UK in 2025, splices the personal and political to dizzying effect in a poetry fluid with forms and genres including reportage, memoir, opera libretto, archival photos and drawings. Using artifacts from Choi's father, a professional documentary photographer during the Korean and Vietnam wars, she explores her paternal relationship and heritage. Here poetry and geopolitics are