Bitter Creek: An Epic Poem

Bitter Creek: An Epic Poem

Bitter Creek , a lyric Chinese epic of the American West, reveals the devastating realities of the 1885 Rock Springs Massacre. In September of 1885, the Chinese coal miners who were brought into Wyoming as strikebreakers were ambushed and driven out of the town of Rock Springs at gunpoint by white coal miners.  Bitter Creek  revisits this dark episode—known today as the Rock Springs Massacre—revealing the stories beneath this violent, decade-long culmination of labor struggles and racial hostilities in the Union Pacific Coal Mines. Through the eyes of the struggling railroad workers, their families, and the corporation working them to the bone, Teow Lim Goh creates an ode to buried history that blends epic tradition with modern composition and astonishing empathy to ask the question, “What turns ordinary people into monsters?” “Like the railroad tracks, two stories exist side-by-side in one incredible piece of work. Bitter Creek , told with tension and power, recounts the competition between newly arrived Chinese immigrants and the white men already present in the space between Colorado and Wyoming. In the midst of environmental destruction is the colonialism of the country and the burden of racial hatred, all spoken behind the ethical consciousness of this brilliant writer.” —LINDA HOGAN, A History of Kindness “ Bitter Creek weaves a polyphony of voices at odds with one another driven by conflicting motivations such as profit, labor, survival, and disputes over space. Set in a harsh and unforgiving time and place, these poems explore a past so brutal that it’s tempting to want to forget. However, Goh urges us to remember and honor these voices by keeping their stories alive.” —LISA BICKMORE, Utah poet laureate “Goh brings to life a cast of historical characters facing challenges so horrific we’d be tempted to call it ‘unimaginable’ until we see the motivations made plain on the page. Inventive, thought-provoking, and impeccably researched, Bitter Creek is as compelling as it is crucial.” —ANA MARIA SPAGNA, Pushed “A striking study of the Rock Springs Massacre, this collection, with poems mined directly from historical documents, is carefully wrought to reckon with the past that still reverberates across our Western mountain passes. Each poem is laced with an empathy that fills in the unspoken and unwritten sides of the story, revealing the timeless truths of greed, blame, and human longing.” —MICHAELA RIDING, The King’s English Bookshop “In this aptly named collection, Goh’s narratives give voice to the characters who, without feeling that they have any way out, are caught up in the economic, cultural and racial conflicts culminating in the 1885 Rock Springs Massacre. The refrain, ‘The Chinese must go,’ echoes throughout these stories, and we hear the pain and confusion within these characters, caught up in an unexpected way of life.” —BARBARA M. SMITH, Wyoming poet laureate “Goh, acclaimed poet and essayist, blends history and empathic imagination using clear language that creates a compelling story in poetic form. History is not what, but who, and these pages are filled with the voices of Chinese immigrants, white miners, and industrialists—ordinary people living and working, hoping and struggling. The result is a riveting and complex story of simmering conflict, racism, and finally, the murder of twenty-eight Chinese miners. In bringing to life the Rock Springs Massacre, Goh invites us into a deeper understanding of the past and present of the American West.” —EMILY SINCLAIR, Paonia Books owner “ Bitter Creek is nothing short of operatic in the story it unfolds through a sprawling cast of characters and range of lyrical voices. Yet its climactic tragedy is all too real, though nearly erased from American history: the vicious massacre of Chinese mine workers at Rock Springs, Wyoming, in the year 1885. Home, for these poor victims, had shrunk to a place where others ‘shared the pain / of living in this strange country alone.’ Goh’s gift to readers is to restore their forgotten names.” —JULIE KANE, former Louisiana poet laureate “Goh humanizes the past in this approachable and deeply affecting collection of poems. Bitter Creek offers a living history told exquisitely.” —JONATHAN T. BAILEY, When I Was Red Clay Teow Lim Goh is a poet and essayist who writes from the nexus of people and place. One of her ongoing projects is to recover the histories of Chinese immigrants in the American West. She is the author of two previous poetry collections, Islanders (2016) and Faraway Places (2021), and her essay collection Western Journeys (2022) was a finalist for the 2023 Colorado Book Awards in Creative Nonfiction. She is based in Denver, CO.