Role Poet Name Li-Young Lee | Ethnicity Chinese American Nationality American | |
 | ||
Notable works The City in Which I Love You Notable awards American Book AwardWhiting AwardLannan Literary Award People also search for Earl Ingersoll, Shunryu Suzuki, Maxine Hong Kingston Education State University of New York at Brockport (1998), University of Pittsburgh, University of Arizona Awards American Book Awards, Whiting Awards Books The City in Which I Love You, From blossoms, Book of my nights, The Winged Seed, Behind My Eyes: Poems | ||
Li young lee the 2014 caesar and patricia tabet poetry reading
Li-Young Lee (李立揚, pinyin: Lǐ Lìyáng) (born August 19, 1957) is an American poet. He was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Chinese parents. His maternal great-grandfather was Yuan Shikai, China's first Republican President, who attempted to make himself emperor. Lee's father, who was a personal physician to Mao Zedong while in China, relocated his family to Indonesia, where he helped found Gamaliel University. His father was exiled and spent 19 months in an Indonesian prison camp in Macau. In 1959 the Lee family fled the country to escape anti-Chinese sentiment and after a five-year trek through Hong Kong and Japan, they settled in the United States in 1964. Li-Young Lee attended the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Arizona, and the State University of New York at Brockport.
Contents
- Li young lee the 2014 caesar and patricia tabet poetry reading
- Li young lee a conversation of poetry and consciousness
- Development as a poet
- Lees influence on Asian American poetry
- Awards and honors
- Other recognition
- Critical studies
- References
Li young lee a conversation of poetry and consciousness
Development as a poet
Lee attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he began to develop his love for writing. He had seen his father find his passion for ministry and as a result of his father reading to him and encouraging Lee to find his passion, Lee began to dive into the art of language. Lee’s writing has also been influenced by classic Chinese poets, such as Li Bai and Du Fu. Many of Lee’s poems are filled with themes of simplicity, strength, and silence. All are strongly influenced by his family history, childhood, and individuality. He writes with simplicity and passion which creates images that take the reader deeper and also requires his audience to fill in the gaps with their own imagination. These feelings of exile and boldness to rebel take shape as they provide common themes for poems.
Lee’s influence on Asian American poetry
Li-Young Lee has been an established Asian American poet who has been doing interviews for the past twenty years. Breaking the Alabaster Jar: Conversations with Li-Young Lee (BOA Editions, 2006, ed. Earl G. Ingersoll), is the first edited and published collection of interviews with an Asian American poet. In this book, Earl G. Ingersoll has collected interviews with the poet consisting of "conversational" questions meant to bring out Lee’s views on Asian American poetry, writing, and identity.
Awards and honors
Lee has won numerous poetry awards:
Other recognition
Critical studies
as of March 2008: