Cathy Song
Encyclopedia
Cathy Song is an Asian-American poet. She is the 1982 winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award
for her collection Picture Bride. Song now resides in Kahala
, Hawaii.
who was a seamstress, and Andrew Song, who is Korean
, and worked as an airline pilot. In 1962, when she was 7 years old, the family relocated to Honolulu. Song graduated from Wellesley College with a bachelor's degree
in 1977 and from Boston University
in 1981 with a master's degree
in Creative Writing.
While living in Boston, she married Douglas Davenport, then a physician-in-training. In 1984, they moved to Colorado
for Davenport's medical training and settled back to Hawaii in 1987. The couple have three children.
from its early days in 1978, and continues to collaborate with writers from that community. Her first book of poetry, Picture Bride (1983), won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition
. In choosing Song's first book for the Yale Series, Richard Hugo wrote, "Her poems are flowers: colorful, sensual, and quiet, and they are offered almost shyly as bouquets to those moments in life that seemed minor but in retrospect count the most. She often reminds a loud, indifferent, hard world of what truly matters to the human spirit."
In 1993, Song won the Hawaii Award for Literature. That same year, the Poetry Society of America awarded Song the Shelley Memorial Award. In the early fall of 1994, she was invited to travel to Korea and Hong Kong under the United States Information Agency's Arts America program
. In 1997, Song was one of the recipients of the annual Literature Awards ($20,000), awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts
.
Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition
The Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition is an annual event of Yale University Press aiming to publish the first collection of a promising American poet...
for her collection Picture Bride. Song now resides in Kahala
Kahala
Kāhala, Honolulu, Hawaii is a neighborhood located alongside Kaimuki and Waialae, featuring many beachfront properties. This small neighborhood has some of the most expensive real estate in the city of Honolulu and the state of Hawaii....
, Hawaii.
Personal life
Song was born in Wahiawa, Hawaii. She was the second of three children born to Ella, an immigrant from ChinaPeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
who was a seamstress, and Andrew Song, who is Korean
Korean people
The Korean people are an ethnic group originating in the Korean peninsula and Manchuria. Koreans are one of the most ethnically and linguistically homogeneous groups in the world.-Names:...
, and worked as an airline pilot. In 1962, when she was 7 years old, the family relocated to Honolulu. Song graduated from Wellesley College with a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in 1977 and from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
in 1981 with a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in Creative Writing.
While living in Boston, she married Douglas Davenport, then a physician-in-training. In 1984, they moved to Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
for Davenport's medical training and settled back to Hawaii in 1987. The couple have three children.
Career
Song was associated with the Hawaii literary journal Bamboo RidgeBamboo Ridge
Bamboo Ridge is a Hawaii-based literary journal and press founded in 1978 by Eric Chock and Darrell H.Y. Lum to publish works by and for the people of Hawaii...
from its early days in 1978, and continues to collaborate with writers from that community. Her first book of poetry, Picture Bride (1983), won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition
Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition
The Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition is an annual event of Yale University Press aiming to publish the first collection of a promising American poet...
. In choosing Song's first book for the Yale Series, Richard Hugo wrote, "Her poems are flowers: colorful, sensual, and quiet, and they are offered almost shyly as bouquets to those moments in life that seemed minor but in retrospect count the most. She often reminds a loud, indifferent, hard world of what truly matters to the human spirit."
In 1993, Song won the Hawaii Award for Literature. That same year, the Poetry Society of America awarded Song the Shelley Memorial Award. In the early fall of 1994, she was invited to travel to Korea and Hong Kong under the United States Information Agency's Arts America program
Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the United States Department of State fosters mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries around the world...
. In 1997, Song was one of the recipients of the annual Literature Awards ($20,000), awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
.
Critical studies
as of March 2008:- Cathy Song By: Huh, Jinny. IN: Madsen, Asian American Writers. Detroit, MI: Gale; 2005. pp. 283–87
- Body and Female Subjectivity in Cathy Song's Picture Bride By: Chen, Fu-Jen; Women's Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2004 July-Aug; 33 (5): 577-612.
- Snapshots in History: Re-Reading Ethnic Subjects in Cathy Song By: Van Dyne, Susan R. IN: Hsu, Franklin and Kosanke, Re-Placing America: Conversations and Contestations: Selected Essays. Honolulu: College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature, U of Hawaii, with East-West Center; 2000. pp. 181–98
- Breaking from Tradition: Experimental Poems by Four Contemporary Asian American Women Poets By: Xiaojing, Zhou; Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses, 1998 Nov; 37: 199-218.
- Cathy Song By: Schultz, Susan M. IN: Conte, American Poets since World War II: Fifth Series. Detroit: Thomson Gale; 1996. pp. 267–74
- Women Disclosed: Cathy Song's Poetry and Kitagawa Ukiyoe By: Usui, Masami; Studies in Culture and the Humanities, 1995; 1-19. (journal article)
- Korean-American Literature: The Next Generation By: Lee, Kyhan; Korea Journal, 1994 Spring; 34 (1): 20-35. (journal article)
- Artistic and Cultural Mothering in the Poetics of Cathy Song By: Cobb, Nora Okja. IN: Ng, Yung, Fugita, and Kim, New Visions in Asian American Studies: Diversity, Community, Power. Pullman, WA: Washington State UP; 1994. pp. 223–34
- Divided Loyalties: Literal and Literary in the Poetry of Lorna Dee CervantesLorna Dee CervantesLorna Dee Cervantes is an award-winning Chicana-Native American poet who is considered one of the major Chicana poets of the past 40 years. She has been described by Alurista, as "probably the best Chicana poet active today." Lorna Dee Cervantes was born in 1954 in California. She grew up in San...
, Cathy Song and Rita DoveRita DoveRita Frances Dove is an American poet and author. From 1993-1995 she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a position now popularly known as "U.S. Poet Laureate"...
By: Wallace, Patricia; MELUS, 1993 Fall; 18 (3): 3-19. - 'Third World' as Place and Paradigm in Cathy Song's Picture Bride By: Fujita-Sato, Gayle K.; MELUS, 1988 Spring; 15 (1): 49-72.