In a report by Stop AAPI Hate, there were 10,905 hate incidents against Asians between March 19, 2020 and the end of December 2021. Moreover, in a report by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, it was revealed that anti-Asian hate crime increased by 339% in 2021 compared to 2020. Unfortunately, many still blame Asians for the catastrophic COVID-19 pandemic. I myself have dreams of moving to New York in the near future. But it got me thinking, when I go out there, would I be safe? As Asian Pacific Heritage Month is next month and National Poetry Month is still in full swing, here are ten poetry books by LGBTQ Asian authors as a form of solidarity. In this list, you can find poetry collections from authors across the LGBTQ spectrum: gay, transgender, lesbian, and nonbinary, among others. The list also features works from both Asians and Asian Americans.
Poetry Books by LGBTQ Asian Authors
These poetry books by LGBTQ Asian authors are undiscovered gems in the saturated and crowded poetry genre. Three of my favorite poems in this collection are “Apology to a Besieged City,” “Apologia of the Besieged City,” and “Alone.” Here’s an excerpt: Alone in the sitting room, so much to dust.I neared the window, the jagged skyline.What if demolition is the true formof permanence? A nest is a storm in drag.My family don’t live with me anymore.Things are either are or aren’t.Happiness is a notion that rejectspretending. I corrected my texture to fit in.Furniture has a reputation of being hard.Why did people still ask why I acted like a countertop? I personally find “Notes Towards an Understanding” and “To the Grandmother Who Mistook Me for a Boy” so powerful and raw. In an interview with Lambda, Chen Chen said that this collection is about his mother and his “messy, messy relationship with her” and his tough life as young gay man among other things. “When my mother slapped me / for being dirty, diseased, led astray by Western devils, //a dirty, bad son, I cried, thirteen, already too old, / too male for crying,” writes the poet in one entry. Most of the poems are powerful that it’s difficult not pause for a while and take them in. My favorites from the collection are the sensual “Song With a Lyric From Allen Ginsberg” and the moving “Race to the Three.” Some poems in BKL/Bikol Bakla are in English, Filipino, and Bicolano, the regional language. My favorites from this collection are “Men In a Pool,” “Gerald Flies From Nagoya To Manila To Legazpi As A Woman,” and “Talahiban Blues,” which are sensual. The downside is that, though some entries are in English, international readers need to have knowledge of the aforementioned local languages. My favorites are “diagram a ghost” and “dear island letter writer.” Like recombinant, I find the poems experimental and bold. My favorites are the entries from the section Sexts from the Universe, which are sassy and delightful. The authors of the collection aim to answer this writing prompt: “What makes you tingle as a lesbian?” My favorite poems from this are “Brrroom,” “For Mama,” and “Coming Up for Air.” The collection has been dubbed as “one of the most important compilations of homoerotic poetry written in the twentieth century.” My favorites are “Dove,” “Mirrors or Narcissism,” and “End of Summer.” Here’s an excerpt from “Dove”: I like its eyes, he said and touched themI like its beak too, I said and touched it But, he said and looked at meBut what, I said looked at him But you even more, he saidOh no, I said and looked down I love you, he said and let the dove goIt’s gone, I murmuredIn his arms I also like the unapologetic tone of the poems here. My favorites are “Triple Sonnet for Autoerotica,” “Five Years Ago in Singapore,” and “Ode to the First Boy Who Made Me Feel It.” Time Is a Mother is his most personal and lyrical collection yet. In this vivid collection, he writes about dealing with the grief of losing his mother. When recalling events in his life, Vuong’s language is so precise, evocative, and masterful. If you liked his first collection, then you would like this even more. I can’t choose which ones are my favorites, but “Snow Theory,” “Reasons for Staying,” “Tell Me Something Good,” and “Dear Rose” really stand out for me. Here’s an excerpt from “Snow Theory”: Another country burning on TVWhat we’ll always have is something we lostIn the snow, the dry outline of my motherPromise me you won’t vanish again, I saidShe lay there awhile, thinking it overOne by one the houses turned off their lightsI lay down over her outline, to keep her trueTogether we made an angelIt looked like something being destroyed in a blizzardI haven’t killed a thing since Looking to read more books by Asian authors? Here’s a list of 100 must-read books.
