Tina Chang
Encyclopedia
Tina Chang is an American poet
, teacher, and editor. She is currently (2010) Poet Laureate of Brooklyn
.
She later attended Binghamton University
. A professor at Binghamton University
was the first to say, “I really think that you can be a poet.” in her junior year. She was tickled but unsure what that meant, so she pursued a string of typical English-major jobs: teaching, advertising, publishing. She received her master of fine art's degree in poetry from Columbia University
’s School of the Arts, where she studied with Lucie Brock-Broido
, Lucille Clifton
, Alfred Corn, Mark Doty
and Richard Howard
. She currently teaches at Sarah Lawrence College
and Hunter College
.
Along with poets Nathalie Handal
and Ravi Shankar
, she is the co-editor of Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond, W. W. Norton
, 2008. Her new collection of poetry, Of Gods & Strangers, will be published in 2011.
Her work has appeared in numerous journals such as McSweeney's
and Ploughshares
.
She has held residencies at MacDowell Colony
, Djerassi Artist's Residency, Vermont Studio Center
, Fundacion Valparaiso, Ragdale, the Constance Saltonstall Foundation, Blue Mountain Center, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, among others.
, the Barbara Deming Memorial Foundation/Money for Women, and the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, Poets & Writers and The Academy of American Poets
. She has also won a Dana Award
for poetry.
Finalist for an Asian American Literary Award from the Asian American Writers' Workshop
, for Half-Lit Houses.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, teacher, and editor. She is currently (2010) Poet Laureate of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
.
Life
Chang was born in 1969 in Oklahoma, to Chinese immigrants who had met in Montreal, where her mother was working as a nurse and her father was earning his doctorate in physics. The family moved to New York when she was a year old. She was also raised in New York City. During her young age, Chang and her brother were sent to live in Taiwan with relatives for two years. “I started questioning even at a very young age, well, what is language?” she said. “What is the role of words?”She later attended Binghamton University
Binghamton University
Binghamton University, also formally called State University of New York at Binghamton, , is a public research university in the State of New York. The University is one of the four university centers in the State University of New York system...
. A professor at Binghamton University
Binghamton University
Binghamton University, also formally called State University of New York at Binghamton, , is a public research university in the State of New York. The University is one of the four university centers in the State University of New York system...
was the first to say, “I really think that you can be a poet.” in her junior year. She was tickled but unsure what that meant, so she pursued a string of typical English-major jobs: teaching, advertising, publishing. She received her master of fine art's degree in poetry from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
’s School of the Arts, where she studied with Lucie Brock-Broido
Lucie Brock-Broido
Lucie Brock-Broido is the author of three collections of poetry. She has received many honors, including the Witter-Bynner prize of Poetry from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Harvard Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award, the Harvard-Danforth Award for Distinction in Teaching, the Jerome J...
, Lucille Clifton
Lucille Clifton
Lucille Clifton was an American writer and educator from Buffalo, New York. From 1979–1985 she was Poet Laureate of Maryland...
, Alfred Corn, Mark Doty
Mark Doty
Mark Doty is an American poet and memoirist.-Biography:He was born in Maryville, Tennessee, earned his Bachelor of Arts from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and received his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Goddard College in Vermont.In 1989, his partner Wally Roberts tested...
and Richard Howard
Richard Howard
Richard Howard is an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and is a graduate of Columbia University, where he studied under Mark Van Doren, and where he now teaches...
. She currently teaches at Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
and Hunter College
Hunter College
Hunter College, established in 1870, is a public university and one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York, located on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Hunter grants undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate degrees in more than one hundred fields of study, and is recognized...
.
Along with poets Nathalie Handal
Nathalie Handal
Nathalie Handal is a French-American poet and playwright of Palestinian origin. She has lived in Europe, the United States, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Arab world.-Biography:...
and Ravi Shankar
Ravi Shankar (poet)
Ravi Shankar is an American poet. He was raised in Manassas, VA. He is the poet-in-residence at Central Connecticut State University and the founding editor of the online journal of the arts, Drunken Boat. His first book, Instrumentality, was published by Cherry Grove in May 2004, and was a...
, she is the co-editor of Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond, W. W. Norton
W. W. Norton
W. W. Norton & Company is an independent American book publishing company based in New York City. It is well known for its "Norton Anthologies", particularly the Norton Anthology of English Literature and the "Norton Critical Editions" series of texts which are frequently assigned in university...
, 2008. Her new collection of poetry, Of Gods & Strangers, will be published in 2011.
Her work has appeared in numerous journals such as McSweeney's
McSweeney's
McSweeney's is an American publishing house founded by editor Dave Eggers.Apart from its book list, McSweeney's is responsible for four regular publications: the quarterly literary journal,...
and Ploughshares
Ploughshares
Ploughshares is an American literary magazine founded 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 the heart of Boston...
.
She has held residencies at MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, Djerassi Artist's Residency, Vermont Studio Center
Vermont Studio Center
The Vermont Studio Center is a non-profit organization located in the town of Johnson in the U.S. state of Vermont. VSC conducts the largest fine arts and writing residency program in the U.S., with a significant population of international artists in residency...
, Fundacion Valparaiso, Ragdale, the Constance Saltonstall Foundation, Blue Mountain Center, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, among others.
Awards
Chang was elected Brooklyn Poet Laureate in 2010. She has received grants and awards from the New York Foundation for the ArtsNew York Foundation for the Arts
The New York Foundation for the Arts was created in conjunction the in 1971. The organization gives grants to individual artists and writers and developing arts organizations with a mission to '.'-NYFA's Programs:...
, the Barbara Deming Memorial Foundation/Money for Women, and the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, Poets & Writers and The Academy of American Poets
Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art of poetry. The Academy was incorporated as a "membership corporation" in New York State in 1934...
. She has also won a Dana Award
Dana Award
The Dana Award is a literary award presented in short fiction, poetry and the novel. It was founded in 1996 by literature professor and poet Mary Elizabeth Parker with the financial backing of Michael Dana. The competition is currently based in Greensboro, North Carolina...
for poetry.
Finalist for an Asian American Literary Award from the Asian American Writers' Workshop
Asian American Writers' Workshop
The Asian American Writers' Workshop is a nonprofit literary arts organization founded in 1991 to support of writers, literature and community. The Workshop also offers the annual Asian American Literary Awards and sponsors Page Turner: The Asian American Literary Festival.-External links:* *...
, for Half-Lit Houses.
Anthologies
- Poetry 30: Poets in their Thirties, (MAMMOTH Books, 2005)
- Asian American Poetry: The Next Generation, (University of Illinois Press, 2004)
- Asian American Literature (McGraw-Hill, 2001)
- Identity Lessons (Penguin, 1999).
External links
- Homepage for Tina Chang
- Audio recording: Tina Chang at the Key West Literary Seminar, 2008
- A Poet Who Doesn't Do Lofty, The New York Times
- Why I Write, Publishers Weekly
- Poetry Society of America, Q & A: American Poetry
- Official Press Release, BP Markowitz Names Tina Chang of Park Slope as Poet Laureate of Brooklyn
- Brooklyn's New Poet Laureate Wants to Weave Poetry into Residents' Lives
- Brooklyn Poet Laureate Envisions Outreach into Brooklyn Communities
- From the Fishouse, audio recordings of Tina Chang's poems
- Interview with Li-Young Lee
- drunkenboat.com, audio recordings of Tina Chang's poems
- New York Times, Princeton Poetry Festival
- "Strange Theater"; "Wild Invention"; "Imagine, Refugee", Guernica, November 2007
- "Duality", Poets.org