Jennifer Chang is an

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

poet and scholar.

Life and career

Jennifer Chang was born in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. She earned a BA from the University of Chicago in 1998, and an MFA from University of Virginia in 2002, where she returned to pursue a PhD and received her degree in 2017. Her poems have been published in ''The American Poetry Review'', ''The Best American Poetry 2012'', ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly 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 ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

'', and ''A Public Space''. Chang's debut collection of poetry, ''The History of Anonymity'', was published in 2008 by the

University of Georgia Press The University of Georgia Press or UGA Press is the university press of the University of Georgia, a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia. It is the oldest and largest publishing house in Georgia and a me ...

. This collection of lyrical poems was an inaugural selection for the ''VQR''s (''Virginia Quarterly Review'') Poetry Series and a finalist for the Shenandoah/Glasgow Prize for Emerging Writers. Her second book, ''Some Say the Lark,'' was published by

Alice James Books Alice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in New Gloucester, Maine. History and mission "Alice James Books was founded as a co-operative press in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, MA in 1973 by five women and two men: ...

in 2017. It was longlisted for the 2018

PEN Open Book Award The PEN Open Book Award (known as the Beyond Margins Award through 2009) is an award intended to foster racial and ethnic diversity within the literary and publishing communities, and works to establish access for diverse literary groups to the pub ...

and won the 2018

William Carlos Williams Award The William Carlos Williams Award is given out by the Poetry Society of America for a poetry book published by a small press, non-profit, or university press. The award is endowed by the family and friends of Geraldine Clinton Little, a poet an ...

. Chang's third collection of poems, ''An Authentic Life'', published by the

Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 by Sam Hamill, Tree Swenson, Bill O'Daly, and Jim Gautney, specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper C ...

in 2024, was a

National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry The National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry, established in 1975, is an annual American literary award presented by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English". Awards are presented ...

finalist. She was an assistant professor of English and creative writing at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

.She is now an associate professor at the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. Chang is co-chair of the advisory board for

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 ...

, an organization dedicated to the creation and cultivation of Asian

American literature American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the British colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also ...

List of Selected Works

Poetry collections

* * *

Poems

* "Pastoral" (2008) * "The Skin's Broken Aria" (2010) * "Sonogram" (2010) * "Again a Solstice" (2010) * "Freedom in Ohio" (2013) * "Patsy Cline" (2015) * "Dorothy Wordsworth" (2016) * "A Horse Named Never" (2017) * "On Emotion" (2017) * "The World" (2017)

Awards and honors

* Henry Hoyns Fellowship,

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

*2018 Winner of the William Carlos Williams Award * Winner of the ''

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 Discussio ...

s Poetry Series, for ''The History of Anonymity'' * Finalist for the Shenandoah/Glasgow Prize for Emerging Writers, for ''The History of Anonymity'' * 2005 Van Lier Fellowship in Poetry at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop * 2005

Louis Untermeyer Louis Untermeyer (October 1, 1885 – December 18, 1977) was an American poet, anthologist, critic, and editor. He was appointed the fourteenth Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1961. Life and career Untermeyer was born in New Yo ...

Scholarship at

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 ...

* 2005 Selection for

Best New Poets The ''Best New Poets'' series consists of annual poetry anthologies, each containing fifty poems from poets without a previously published collection. The first edition of the series appeared in 2005, and was published, as all later editions hav ...

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The program was founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDo ...

Fellowship * Djerassi Resident Artists Program

References

External links

Profile: Alice James Books > Authors > Jennifer Chang

Profile: George Washington University > English Department Faculty > Jennifer Chang

Audio: Jennifer Chang reads "Again A Solstice" on NPR Morning Edition

Poems: Kenyon Review > Spring 2011 > ''Some Say the Lark Makes Sweet Division; Terra Incognita'' by Jennifer Chang

Poems: Blackbird > Vol. 5, No. 1 Spring 2016 > Estuary, Field Guide to the Night Sky, Slept and Introductions by Jennifer Chang
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Jennifer American women poets 21st-century American poets Living people People from New Jersey Year of birth missing (living people) University of Chicago alumni University of Virginia alumni 21st-century American women writers