For a new citizen of these united states poem by liyoung. Between 1959 and 1964 the lee family traveled throughout hong kong, macau and japan, until arriving in america. Early in the morning by liyoung lee poetry foundation. See more ideas about poetry, poems and american poets. Born in indonesia, of chinese parents, liyoung lee moved to the united states as a young boy. He has taught at northwestern university and the university of iowa. This book is part of the american poets continuum series. In book of my nights, liyoung lee once again gives us lyrical poetry that fuses memory, family, culture and history. Liyoung lee burst onto the american literary scene with the publication of rose, winner of the 1986 delmore schwartz memorial poetry award from the poetry society of america. Book of my nights by liyoung lee, 9781929918089, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Rose boa, 1986, winner of the delmore schwartz memorial award from new york university. The city in which i love you boa, 1991, the 1990 lamont poetry selection.
Liyoung lee was born in 1957 in jakarta, indonesia. His father had been a personal physician to mao zedong while in china, and relocated the family to indonesia, where he helped found gamaliel university. Liyoung lee was born in djakarta, indonesia in 1957 to chinese political exiles. Lees father, lee kuo yuan, a profound and religious christian, was a physician under the nationalist chinese during chinas civil war. He has authored several volumes of poetry, including book of nights and behind my eyes.
Liyoung lee at the san francisco public library youtube. In the undressing, lee explores themes of family, memory, spirituality, love, and even violence. In 1959, the lee family fled the country to escape antichinese sentiment and after a fiveyear trek through hong kong. Both of lees parents came from powerful chinese families. Liyoung lee events threetime pushcart prize winner. The four quartets prize is for a unified and complete sequence of poems published in america in a print or online journal, chapbook, or book.
He has lived in chicago since 1981, and makes a living by teaching and giving readings. His other work includes breaking the alabaster jar, a collection of twelve. Such is the metaphysical preoccupation of liyoung lees longawaited third volume of poetry, book of my nights a collection of 35 lyrical nocturnes which. Rose, the city in which i love you, book of my nights, the winged seed. Ingersoll, is the first edited and published collection of interviews with an asian american poet. Lee has won numerous awards, including three pushcart prizes, the lannan literary award, and the poetry society of americas william carlos williams award for his collection book of my nights boa editions, 2001.
His father had been a personal physician of mao zedong, the communist dictator of the peoples republic. In this fourth collection by the popular lee book of my nights, timely immigration issues drive such poems as selfhelp for fellow refugees, but. Liyoung lee was born in 1957 in jakarta, indonesia, of chinese parents. A number of poems deal with death or other forms of loss. Another word for son is delight, another word, hidden.
Conversations with liyoung lee boa editions, 2006, ed. Worry boils the water for tea in the middle of the night. The city in which i love you, the 1990 lamont poetry selection. The city in which i love you, which was the 1990 lamont poetry selection. Liyoung lee was born in 1957 in jakarta, indonesia, to chinese parents. Liyoung lee is the author of five books of poetry, including his newest collection, the undressing which is forthcoming in 2018. Liyoung lee is the author of five critically acclaimed books of poetry, most recently the undressing w.
Book of my nights quotes showing 16 of 6 the moon from any window is one part whoevers looking. Book of my nights is the first poetry collection in ten years by one of the worlds most acclaimed young poets. Why did you feel a calling to the night as opposed to the day. Blue flower arts liyoung lee a literary speakers agency. Chapbook fellowships psas chapbook program publishes each winners work as a gorgeous chapbook, allowing new voices to reach new audiences. Winged seed by liyoung lee and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
Book of my nights 2001, which won the william carlos williams award. In language as simple and powerful as the human muscle, these poems work individually and as a fullsequence meditation on the vulnerability of humanity. The city in which i love you 1990, which was a lamont poetry selection. Such is the metaphysical preoccupation of liyoung lees longawaited third volume of poetry, book of my nights a collection of 35 lyrical nocturnes which mark a shift in the poets work towards a more hermetic mode. Lees third book, book of my nights 2001, deals less explicitly with childhood, family and memory and turns inward for a transfiguring kind of introspection. Li young lee states how an individual is attached to both the past and future.
It is both passover and easter this weekend, a time to celebrate liberation, the renewal of life and hope and possibility. Liyoung lees book of my nights is his fourth book of poetry and continues to concern itself with issues important to the poets strong and original imagination. Liyoung lees collections of poems include the city in which i love you and book of my nights. In the poem, there are references to stars being covered by the day. Such is the metaphysical preoccupation of liyoung lees longawaited third volume of poetry, book of my nightsa collection of 35 lyrical. His earlier collections are book of my nights boa editions, 2001. In your most recent book, book of my nights, night is many things. Book of my nights by liyoung lee is available in these.
Lees great grandfather was the first president of the republic of china, and lees father had been the personal physician to mao zedong. Passionate and profound, lees longawaited third collection charts the midlife ontological crisis of a speaker who cant tell what my father said about the sea. Rose, winner of the delmore schwartz memorial award. In language as simple and powerful as the human muscle, these poems work individually and as a fullsequence meditation on the vulnerability of. Liyoung lees great grandfather, yuan shikai served as chinas first republican president from 1912 to 1916 and tried to establish himself as emperor. In 1959 his father, after spending a year as a political prisoner in president sukarnos jails, fled indonesia with his family. His maternal greatgrandfather was yuan shikai, the first president of the republic of china, and his father, yuan kuo lee. Our bodies look like things, but theres no thingness to them.
Liyoung lee has been an established asian american poet who has been doing interviews for the past twenty years. Forgive me for thinking i saw the irregular postage stamp of death a black moth the size of my left. Worry trimmed the childs nails before singing him to sleep. The part i cant see is everything my sister keeps to herself. Liyoung, dont feel lonely when you look up into great night and find yourself the far face peering hugely out from between a star and a star. By being stuck in between these two time periods, a person is able to gain knowledge from the past while also preparing for future events. All that space the nighthawk plunges through, homing, all that distance beyond embrace, what is it but your own infinity. Book of my nights by liyoung lee overdrive rakuten. Liyoung lees first poetry collection, rose, won the new york universitys 1986. Liyoung lees first book in more than a decade was worth the wait.