Time is a Mother

From the author of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

Ocean Vuong

$29.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

QTY:

English

Jonathan Cape Ltd
04 November 2025

Poetry by individual poets; Migration, immigration & emigration; Gay studies (Gay men); Sociology: family & relationships

Discover the Sunday Times bestselling collection from the TikTok sensation and author of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

Discover the Sunday Times bestselling collection from the TikTok sensation and author of On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

'One of the most important poets of his generation' ANDREW MCMILLAN, author of Physical

'Powerful' DUA LIPA

'Redefines our idea of what an elegy can do it, what it is for' ILYA KAMINSKY, author of Deaf Republic

In this deeply intimate second poetry collection, Ocean Vuong searches for life among the aftershocks of his mother's death, embodying the paradox of sitting within grief while being determined to survive beyond it. Vivid, brave and propulsive, Vuong's poems contend with personal loss, the meaning of family, and the value of joy in a perennially fractured American spirit.

The author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds, winner of the 2016 Whiting Award, the 2017 T. S. Eliot Prize and a 2019 MacArthur fellow, Vuong writes directly to our humanity without losing sight of the current moment. Bold and prescient, and a testament to tenderness in the face of violence, Time is a Mother is a return and a forging-forth all at once.

By: Ocean Vuong
Imprint: Jonathan Cape Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 198mm, Width: 130mm, Spine: 10mm
Weight: 121g
ISBN: 9781787333703
ISBN 10: 1787333701
Pages: 112
Publication Date: 04 November 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , College/higher education , General/trade , Undergraduate , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Ocean Vuong is the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collections Night Sky with Exit Wounds and Time is a Mother, as well as the New York Times bestselling novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. A recipient of the 2019 MacArthur \""Genius\"" Grant, he is also the winner of the Whiting Award and the T.S. Eliot Prize. His writings have been featured in Atlantic, Harper's Magazine, Nation, New Republic, New Yorker, and the New York Times. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, he currently splits his time between Northampton, Massachusetts, and New York City.

Reviews for Time is a Mother: From the author of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

A remarkable return: Vuong's unparalleled luminosity of phrase, his perfected pinpoint accuracy of image is here placed alongside a thrilling expansion of voice and gaze which further confirms Vuong as one of the most important poets of his generation. -- Andrew McMillan A profound and accomplished collection. * Dazed Digital, *Books to Look Out For 2022* * A rumination on grief and cultural assimilation by a bold young poet... Time is a Mother is funny and incisive, a promise of more good things to come from Ocean Vuong. -- Neily Raymond * Oxford Student * There's something about Vuong's writing that demands all of your lungs. The succinct line arrangement and absence of full stops in poems...force you to breath heavy. -- Kadish Morris * Observer * [An] indispensable collection. * ArtReview *