As immigrants from China arrived by boat to San Francisco in the early 1900s, they were detained at Angel Island to await determination of their immigration application. Men and women were separated and held for weeks to months at a time while awaiting entry in to the United States or deportation back to China. The progressively stricter immigration laws during that time were aimed at keeping Chinese immigrants out of the country. With no contact with their families, no freedom to wander the island, and nearly nothing at all to do, some immigrants began carving poems in to the walls of their barracks.
Island not only reproduces and translates these poems, but also provides interviews with people who were held at Angel Island during their immigration process. The interviewees speak of frustration, misunderstandings with their guards, and a paralyzing boredom. The poems speak of yearning for freedom and home and family, of broken dreams and anger. The authors divide the poems and interviews by subject matter, but the poems don’t need classification.
The authors provide alternate translations of the poems as an appendix- they repeatedly note that some Chinese characters can not be simply translated to English, and for their translations they have tried to keep the spirit of the poem rather than stick rigidly to structure. They have also provided notes regarding folk tales or colloquialisms referenced by the poets.
This collection is a bracing reminder of the cruelties of America’s past which seem to have now become present.