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Biography

Chen Chen was born in Xiamen, China, and grew up in Massachusetts. His debut poetry collection, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities, won the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize and was longlisted for the National Book Award. Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency (BOA, 2022) was a finalist for the Brooklyn Public Library Book Prize. His work has appeared in two chapbooks and in such publications as Poetry, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, Best of the Net, and The Best American Poetry. He is the recipient of fellowships from Kundiman, the Saltonstall Foundation, and Lambda Literary. Other honors include the Thom Gunn Award, three Pushcart Prizes, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and United States Artists. He earned his BA at Hampshire College his MFA at Syracuse University, and a PhD in English and Creative Writing at Texas Tech University. Chen Chen lives in Rochester, NY with his partner and their pug, Mr. Rupert Giles. For more about Chen Chen, visit www.chenchenwrites.com.

Books by Chen Chen

Authors · Featured

Michelle Phương Hồ

Michelle Phương Hồ is the author of Bone Symphony (Boa Editions, 2026), chosen by Aracelis Girmay as a Blessing the Boats Selection. Her work…

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Book Bundles · Featured

Boa Classic Book Bundle

With this one-time purchase you will receive a box of 5 best-selling titles from Boa with a few goodies from the publisher (broadsides, bookmarks,…

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Book Subscriptions · Featured

Boa Book Lovers Subscription

Subscribe and save on all forthcoming Boa titles within the calendar year! At the start of each season (every 6 months), subscribers will receive…

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Fiction · Featured

The Innocent Party

Winner of the Kurt Vonnegut Fiction Prize, Aimee Parkison’s characters struggle to understand what happens when the innocent party becomes the guilty party. With…

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New Release · Featured

I Am Trying to Love the Whole World

In her lyrical fifth collection, I Am Trying to Love the Whole World, Jenny Browne fearlessly holds grief without sentimentality and beauty without denial. For nearly…

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Nonfiction · Featured

The Complete Writings of Art Smith, the Bird Boy of Fort Wayne, Edited by Michael Martone

The Complete Writings of Art Smith, the Bird Boy of Fort Wayne, Edited by Michael Martone is a Midwestern mythology that celebrates facts, fiction,…

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Poetry · Featured

Against Distance

In Peter Makuck's Against Distance, nature is both a reprieve and a danger. Here, various landscapes—oceans, inlets, rivers, foothills, deserts—pressure and test human relationships. In…

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Rare and Signed · Featured

Sleeping with Houdini

Signed copies available in limited supply Nin Andrews starts from the premise that life on Earth is suffering, and that a large part of…

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Translations · Featured

Sea-Level Zero

In this ambitious collection, the first North American translation by one of Romania's most important writers, Daniela Crasnaru tackles such diverse subjects as the…

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