Victoria Chang is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

, writer, editor, and critic.

Life

Victoria Chang was born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in the suburb of West Bloomfield. Her parents were immigrants from

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. She graduated from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

with a BA in Asian Studies,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

with an MA in Asian Studies, and Stanford Business School with a MBA. She also has an MFA in poetry from the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers where she held a Holden Scholarship. She lives in Los Angeles.

Career

Chang’s forthcoming book of poems, With My Back to the World, will be published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux in 2024. Chang's first book, ''Circle'' ( Southern Illinois University Press, 2005), won the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry. Her second poetry collection is ''Salvinia Molesta'' ( University of Georgia Press, 2008). Her third book of poetry, ''The Boss'' was published by McSweeney's in 2013—it won a PEN Center USA literary award and a California Book Award. Another collection, ''Barbie Chang'', was published by

Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both popu ...

in 2017. Her fifth book of poems, ''OBIT'', was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2020. It won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the PEN Voelcker Award, and the Anisfield-Wolf Book Prize and was a finalist for National Book Critics Circle Award, the

Griffin Poetry Prize The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. Before 2022, the awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. ...

, and long listed for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

. It was also named a ''New York Times'' Notable Book, a ''New York Times'' Best 100 Books of the Year, a ''TIME'' Magazine, NPR, ''Boston Globe'', and ''Publishers Weekly'' Best Book of the Year. In 2021, she published ''Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief,'' Milkweed Editions. The book was a ''TIME, Lithub, and NPR'' most anticipated book of 2021. It was named one of Electric Literature’s Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2021. Her sixth book of poems, The Trees Witness Everything, was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2022. It was named a Best Book of 2022 by The New Yorker. She also writes picture books for children and middle grade novels, and her picture book, ''Is Mommy?'' published by

Beach Lane Books Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...

(Simon & Schuster) in the fall of 2015, illustrated by Marla Frazee, was named a ''New York Times'' Notable Book. Her middle grade verse novel, ''LOVE, LOVE'' was published by Sterling Publishing in 2020. Chang is the former Program Chair of Antioch University's MFA Program and currently serves as a Core Faculty member. She was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2017, a Lannan Residency Fellowship in 2020, a Sustainable Arts Foundation Fellowship in 2017, a Poetry Society of America Alice Fay di Castagnola Award in 2018, a Pushcart Prize, and a MacDowell Fellowship. Her work has appeared in literary journals and magazines including ''

The Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Philip ...

'', '' The Kenyon Review'', '' Gulf Coast'', ''

Virginia Quarterly Review The ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman. This ''"National Journal of Literature and Discussion"'' ...

'', ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

'', ''

Ploughshares ''Ploughshares'' is an American literary journal established in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, ''Ploughshares'' has been based at Emerson College in Boston. ...

'', and ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

'', and '' Tin House''.

Honors and awards

*''Dear Memory'' was named one of Electric Literature’s Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2022 *''OBIT'' won the 2021 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for poetry *''OBIT'' won the 2020 ''Los Angeles Times'' Poetry Book Prize *''OBIT'' was a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award *''OBIT'' won the PEN Voelcker Award *''OBIT'' was long listed for a National Book Award *''OBIT'' was a finalist for the Griffin International Poetry Prize *''OBIT'' was named a ''New York Times 100 Best Books of the Year,'' a ''TIME Magazine Best 100 Books of the Year,'' NPR's Best Books of the Year, ''Publishers Weekly'' Best Books of the Year, ''Boston Globe'' Best Books of the Year *2020 Lannan Foundation Residency Fellowship *2020 Frank Sanchez Book Award *2019 MacDowell Katherine Min Fellowship *2017 Pushcart Prize *2018 Housatonic Book Award for ''Barbie Chang'' *Poetry Society of America's Alice Fay di Castagnola Award 2017 *Sustainable Arts Foundation Fellowship 2017 *Guggenheim Fellowship 2017 *''IS MOMMY?'' named a ''New York Times'' Notable Book in 2015 *2014, ''The Boss'' winner of a 2014

PEN Center USA PEN Center USA was a branch of PEN, an international literary and human rights organization. It was one of two PEN International Centers in the United States, the other being the PEN America in New York City. On March 1, 2018, PEN Center USA unifi ...

Literary Award * 2014, ''The Boss'' winner of a 2013

Commonwealth California Book Award The Commonwealth Club of California is a non-profit, non-partisan educational organization based in Northern California. Founded in 1903, it is the oldest and largest public affairs forum in the United States. Membership is open to everyone. Act ...

(Silver Medal) * 2004 Crab Orchard Review Open Competition Award * ''Salvinia Molesta'' Finalist for the 2008 Commonwealth California Book Award * ''Circle'', Winner of the

Association for Asian American Studies The Association for Asian American Studies was founded in 1979 as the Association for Asian/Pacific American Studies. The name was changed in 1982. The organization was established to promote teaching and research in Asian American studies. Its o ...

Book award * ''Circle'', finalist for the PEN Center West Book Award * 2007 ''Ploughshares'' Cohen Award * 2005

Bread Loaf Writers' Conference The Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is an author's conference held every summer at the Bread Loaf Inn, near Bread Loaf Mountain, east of Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1926, it has been called by ''The New Yorker'' "the oldest and most p ...

Fellowship * 2005

Sewanee Writers' Conference The Sewanee Writers' Conference is a writers' conference held every summer on the campus of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. The conference was started in 1989 by founding director Wyatt Prunty and the current director is Leah S ...

Fellowship * 2003 Bread Loaf Writers' Conference Scholarship

Published works

Poetry Collections *''The Trees Witness Everything'', Copper Canyon Press, 2022 *
OBIT
', Copper Canyon Press, 2020 *
Barbie Chang
', Copper Canyon Press, 2017
''The Boss''
McSweeney's Poetry Series, 2014 * * Prose Books *
Dear Memory: Letters on Writing, Silence, and Grief
', Milkweed Editions, 2021 Children's Books
Love Love
Sterling Books, 2020 * Anthologies Edited * Anthology Publications * Tracy K. Smith; David Lehman, eds. (2021). ''"Obit". The Best American Poetry 2021.'' Simon and Schuster. * Paisley Rekdal; David Lehman, eds. (2020). ''"Obit". The Best American Poetry 2020.'' Simon and Schuster. *Major Jackson; David Lehman, eds. (2019). Six poems from ''OBIT. The Best American Poetry 2019.'' Simon and Schuster. * *Pushcart Prize Anthology, 2018

References

External links

Author's Website
*

: https://www.nationalbook.org/books/obit/
Interview: ''every other day'' > 13 June 2006 > Victoria Chang Interview

Audio: Victoria Chang Reading for ''From the Fishouse''

"Drawing New Circles: Dialogue with Victoria Chang", ''Emprise Review''
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Victoria Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American bloggers American management consultants American writers of Taiwanese descent American women writers of Chinese descent American poets of Asian descent Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni Writers from Detroit American women poets 21st-century American women