They Rise Like a Wave: An Anthology of Asian American Women Poets

At a time when institutional policies have sought to silence, marginalize, deport, or otherwise erase the existences of women of color, our poets have never been less silent. This anthology aims to spotlight the voices of Asian American women and non-binary poets writing through these difficult times. Our contributors range from established poets who are widely published, such as Marilyn Chin, Franny Choi, Victoria Chang, Devi S. Laskar and Bhanu Kapil, to emerging voices such as Paul Tran, Ryka Aoki, Hyejung Kook, and Monica Sok. In They Rise Like A Wave, we’ve chosen to foster a poetics of breaking boundaries, experimenting with language, and revitalizing a historically narrow and oppressive Western canon. In our selections, we endeavor to show that there is no single style, topic, or theme that defines an Asian American poetics At this time of reckoning and renewal, let us remember that our poetry can be both a reflection of lived experience as well as a call to imagine how to build a better world.