Ching-In Chen is a

genderqueer Non-binary or genderqueer gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gender that is differ ...

Chinese American poet and multi-genre writer. They graduated from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of Cali ...

, and the

University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. They are the author of ''recombinant'', ''The Heart's Traffic'', and ''to make black paper sing.'' Chen is also the co-editor of the anthologies ''The'' ''Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist'' ''Communities'' and ''Here Is a Pen: An Anthology of West Coast Kundiman Poets.'' They are a Callaloo,

Kundiman Kundiman is a genre of traditional Filipino ballads, predominantly with romantic themes. The lyrics of the kundiman are written in Tagalog. The melody is characterized by a smooth, flowing and gentle rhythm with dramatic intervals. Kundima ...

, and Lambda Fellow. Chen has taught in

Sam Houston State University Sam Houston State University (Sam Houston, SHSU or Sam) is a public research university in Huntsville, Texas, United States. Founded in 1879, it is the third-oldest public college or university in Texas. It is one of the first normal schools wes ...

's English department, and currently teaches in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

programs at the

University of Washington Bothell The University of Washington Bothell (UW Bothell) is a campus of the University of Washington, located in Bothell, Washington. It was founded in 1989 and is one of the three campuses of the University of Washington, alongside the Seattle and Tac ...

. They presently serve as the staff advisor for ''Clamor'', the Bothell campus's literary magazine, alongside

Amaranth Borsuk Amaranth Borsuk (born 1981) is an American poet and educator known for her experiments with textual materiality and digital poetry. She is currently an associate professor at the University of Washington Bothell's School of Interdisciplinary Arts ...

Career

Chen's first book, ''The Heart's Traffic'' (2009)'','' is a "novel-in-poems" that employs multiple poetic forms, including the

sestina A sestina (, from ''sesto'', sixth; Old Occitan: ''cledisat'' ; also known as ''sestine'', ''sextine'', ''sextain'') is a fixed verse, fixed verse form consisting of six stanzas of six lines each, normally followed by a three-line envoi. The wor ...

villanelle A villanelle, also known as villanesque,Kastner 1903 p. 279 is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains and two repeating rhymes, with the first and third lines of the first tercet re ...

haibun is a prosimetric literary form originating in Japan, combining prose and haiku. The range of ''haibun'' is broad and frequently includes autobiography, diary, essay, prose poem, short story and travel journal. History The term "''haibun''" was ...

, and

pantoum The pantoum is a poetic form derived from the pantun, a Malay verse form: specifically from the ''pantun berkait'', a series of interwoven quatrains. Structure The pantoum is a form of poetry similar to a villanelle in that there are repeating li ...

. The book focuses on the experiences of Xiaomei, a young immigrant from China to the United States. Chen's second book, ''recombinant'' (2017), received the 2018

Lambda Literary Award Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary Foundation, Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ+ literatur ...

for Transgender Poetry. In 2024, Chen was selected as the city of

Redmond, Washington Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 73,256 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. The city h ...

's Poet Laureate.

Works

*''to make black paper sing'' (speCt! books, 2019). *''recombinant'' (Kelsey Street Press, 2017). , *''The Heart's Traffic'' (Arktoi/Red Ren Press, 2009). , ;co-editor *''The Revolution Starts at Home: Confronting Intimate Violence Within Activist Communities'' 2011; Ak Press, 2016, , *''Here Is a Pen: An Anthology of West Coast Kundiman Poets'' Achiote Press, 2009.

References

Living people 21st-century American poets American activists Lambda Literary Award winners American LGBTQ people of Asian descent American LGBTQ poets Year of birth missing (living people) Transgender academics Transgender poets Non-binary poets University of Washington Bothell faculty University of Washington faculty 21st-century American LGBTQ people Transgender non-binary people American transgender writers American non-binary writers {{US-poet-stub