Presenter(s): Katie Quines—Spatial Data Science, Geography
Faculty Mentor(s): Ariel Machell
Session 4: Let’s KIDD Around: KIDD Creative Writing Program
While much attention has been paid to the thematic similarities between poetic works produced by Asian-American writers, little commentary exists on why several Asian-American poets are partial to a particular poetic form: the epistolary poem, or a poem stylized as a letter . Contemporary poets ranging from Franny Choi to Ocean Vuong have produced several epistolary poems that discuss their perspectives on the experience of being part of the Asian diaspora . However, the epistolary form creates varied and distinct effects on themes common to diasporic writing, with some letter-poems giving authors access to voice and emotions that critique external, social structures, while some choose to address issues that exist internal to the Asian-American community . This project explores different benefits that the epistolary format confers upon poems written to address the experience of diaspora . By analyzing letter-poems from four Asian-American poets in relation to Marie Myuk-Ok’s theory that the epistolary poem functions as a means of giving minorities access to social critique, I argue that the letter-poems give access to more than pure critique . Rather, the epistolary format functions as a liminal space, which allows diasporic writers to both confront and come to terms with various forms of absence (racial equality and power, of knowledge of our own communities or histories, of physical separation from loved ones, etc .) . This project aims to help poets like myself, who write under the shadow of diaspora, understand the epistolary poem as a form that is ripe with potential for creating new understandings of identity .