Born in Oklahoma, poet Tina Chang moved with her family to New York City when she was a year old. As a child, Chang was sent to live with family in Taiwan for two years before returning to New York. She earned a B.A. at SUNY-Binghamton and an M.F.A. 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 coedits 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, 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.”
Chang has received awards from the Academy of American Poets, Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, and Van Lier Foundation. She has also been granted residencies at the MacDowell, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Vermont Studio Center, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She lives in Brooklyn.
Portrait by Lawrence Schwartzwald
