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Half-Lit Houses
Tina Chang’s poems address the problems of family and heritage, initially inhabiting formally patterned stanzas that mimic the boundaries and bonds that are her subject, and then opening into free(-er) verse as the collection progresses and tries to break out of what has been imposed--both narratively and technically. These are passionate and accessible poems, simple in diction and declaration, elegant in image and syntax.
- GenresPoetry
95 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2004
About the author
Tina Chang
12 books44 followersTina Chang was born in Oklahoma, in 1969, to Chinese immigrants, who had met in Montreal, where her mother was working as a nurse and her father was earning his doctorate in physics. Chang moved with her family to New York City when she was a year old. As a child, Chang and her brother were sent to live with family in Taiwan for two years before returning to New York. She earned a BA at SUNY-Binghamton and an MFA at Columbia University.
Chang is the author of the poetry collections Half-Lit Houses (2004) and Of Gods & Strangers (2011). Her work has been featured in the anthologies Asian American Poetry: THE NEXT GENERATION (2004) and From the Fishouse: An Anthology of Poems that Sing, Rhyme, Resound, Syncopate, Alliterate, and Just Plain Sound Great (2009). She co-edited the anthology Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond (2008).
The first woman to be named poet laureate of Brooklyn, New York, Chang discussed her appointment with the New York Times: “The ultimate goal is to break down the wall between people and poetry,” Chang noted. “Somewhere along the way, we have felt intimidated by it, or we have felt we have to be well-educated in order to be able to access it or walk into that world.”
She currently teaches poetry at Sarah Lawrence College and is an international faculty member at the City University at Hong Kong
Chang is the author of the poetry collections Half-Lit Houses (2004) and Of Gods & Strangers (2011). Her work has been featured in the anthologies Asian American Poetry: THE NEXT GENERATION (2004) and From the Fishouse: An Anthology of Poems that Sing, Rhyme, Resound, Syncopate, Alliterate, and Just Plain Sound Great (2009). She co-edited the anthology Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond (2008).
The first woman to be named poet laureate of Brooklyn, New York, Chang discussed her appointment with the New York Times: “The ultimate goal is to break down the wall between people and poetry,” Chang noted. “Somewhere along the way, we have felt intimidated by it, or we have felt we have to be well-educated in order to be able to access it or walk into that world.”
She currently teaches poetry at Sarah Lawrence College and is an international faculty member at the City University at Hong Kong
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 18, 2024
A collection of poems about family and heritage, legacy and identity.
from Invention: "I was born in the middle of monsoon season, / palm trees tearing the tin roofs. // Now as I wander to the center of the island / no one will speak to me. My dialect left somewhere / in his pocket, in a nursery book, // a language of child's play."
from The Unpainted Mouth: "Today we boil water and place / one egg in. We watch it work into a frothy / yellow heart and we eat it together. / I love you beyond our poverty."
from Half-Lit Houses: "There is the affliction of trees, / an icy music tangled in the branches / limbs cutting a movement, half-dancing // half-stabbing a shadow in the barren. / Rivulets of my voice hanging, / a notion."
from Invention: "I was born in the middle of monsoon season, / palm trees tearing the tin roofs. // Now as I wander to the center of the island / no one will speak to me. My dialect left somewhere / in his pocket, in a nursery book, // a language of child's play."
from The Unpainted Mouth: "Today we boil water and place / one egg in. We watch it work into a frothy / yellow heart and we eat it together. / I love you beyond our poverty."
from Half-Lit Houses: "There is the affliction of trees, / an icy music tangled in the branches / limbs cutting a movement, half-dancing // half-stabbing a shadow in the barren. / Rivulets of my voice hanging, / a notion."
June 30, 2026
beautiful, haunting, heavy
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August 25, 2010Prepare for the 2010 Poets Forum in New York City (October 28-30) by reading Chang's newest book of poetry, and check out the Poets Forum 2010 bookshelf for the latest collections by each of the poets participating in the Poets Forum. Happy reading!
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November 30, 2008I don't get the sentence structure, or the masses of associative, uninteresting images. This is probably just me.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews