Tag Archives: publication

October (pub month) news & updates

Dear friends, I’m excited (but also, because I’m me, utterly panicked) to announce that we are four days from the official Focal Point release date, and I’ve got lots of updates coming your way, including how to enter the preorder giveaway, signing up for my newly launched newsletter, the Focal Point fall tour schedule, and a peek at early reviews & features.

Preorder giveaway

I partnered with the wonderful Miller Press to create broadsides of my poem “Postcards From the Living.” All who have preordered can enter the giveaway by filling out this form. All you need is proof of purchase! If you haven’t preordered yet, you can still do so at The Booksmith, Bookshop, Indie Bound, Amazon, or your local indie bookstore.

broadsides (right) made by Miller Press

Newsletter

I started a Mailchimp newsletter and will use that to send (very occasional) event updates directly to your inbox. Here’s the first one as well as an option to subscribe if you’re interested!

Upcoming events

Here are my 2021 fall events! All are virtual unless otherwise noted; there are two in-person events in San Francisco. They are subject to change, so please check my events page and follow me on Instagram for the latest updates and links to sign up for the events.

Below, I am including links to register for my first few October events, including two in-person events in San Francisco at Yerba Buena Gardens (10/17) and Green Apple Books on the Park (10/22):

ICYMI, here’s a link to watch my very fun reading and conversation with Susan Nguyen and Roy Guzmán in celebration of Susan’s book Dear Diaspora, which was released September 1st. Huge shoutout to Susan for your support and for being such an inspiration as you’ve navigated your book launch.

Features & early reviews

  • Frontier Poetry featured Postcards from the Living” in their August roundup of Exceptional Poetry
  • Focal Point was featured by the bookstagram account @asianauthorsbookclub, who described it as “a debut poetry collection that will dazzle your mind and twist your heart.”
  • Novelist A.H. Kim featured Focal Point in her delightful Little Free Libraries Instagram project
  • In Mochi Mag, written by Tria Chang, a side by side interview with Kat Chow, author of Seeing Ghosts, a memoir that is also about losing her mother as a young person
  • A thoughtful review by Rooted & Written alumna Rebecca Samuelson, who took a poetry workshop I led: “Jenny Qi tackles [grief] with a ferocious grace in her new collection…. Focal Point provides a starting point to a journey that will never end but will inevitably change the trajectory of your life.”

That’s all for now! Hope to see you at one of my upcoming events this month!

August news & events

Dear friends, it’s been a busy month, and I wanted to share some updates!

Upcoming events:
  • On Friday, August 27th at 6pm PST, I’ll be reading with my friend Preeti at KSW Presents Preeti Vangani with Jenny Qi. The event is fully virtual. Click on the link to learn more and sign up to read with us!
Publications & features:
  • Frontier Poetry’s Jose Hernandez Diaz featured my poem “What Grows in the Desert” in their roundup of “exceptional poetry from around the web.” This poem appears in my forthcoming collection Focal Point, and you can read the full poem at SWWIM here.
  • As mentioned in a previous post, my poem “Postcards from the Living” was published in The Atlantic—a dream! This poem also appears in Focal Point.
  • New work alert: “This is an instagram poem” will be in issue 52 of The Racket.
Reviews of Focal Point:
Other book news:
  • Focal Point is once again the #1 New Release in Asian American Poetry on Amazon. Thanks to everyone for supporting!
  • Earlier in the month, I received my physical books and made an unboxing video (and quite possibly my first video ever), which you can watch here.
  • I’ve unveiled all of my blurbs, and you can read all of these kind and generous words on my social media or my book page. You can also navigate to my book page to find pre-order links & other information about Focal Point.
  • I made a graphic (see below) on how to support authors, based on a post by Tin House friend and fellow debut poet Susan Nguyen, author of Dear Diaspora. Feel free to use this, but please credit both of us. Here is Susan’s original, prettier post!
  • I’ve been doing the Sealey Challenge this year and reading one collection of poems each day in August. Follow along with my Instagram stories or on Twitter, & I’ll also probably post a roundup of all of the books I’ve read at the end of the month!

Focal Point cover reveal & pre-order info

Friends! I’m so excited to finally share my book cover, designed by my brilliant friend Hilary Steinberg. I also have a book page here, and pre-order is available through Steel Toe Books and elsewhere (all links are available on the book page).

Some backstory on this cover: I took the photo in Mammoth Lakes, CA last summer, before I found out that my book would be published. What makes this cover extra meaningful for me is that Hilary is one of my oldest friends and one of so few people remaining in my life who remembers my mother. It’s so special to me that I was able to work with her on this.

Day 275: book announcement

I’m excited to finally share that after being a finalist in a number of contests, my debut poetry collection, Focal Point, was selected by Dustin Pearson for the Steel Toe Books Poetry Award and will be published next fall. Link to the announcement & words from Dustin Pearson on the book here. So grateful for this at the end of such a long year.

Love and light at the end of the tunnel

My essay is out in The New York Times, and in the process, I got to talk to Daniel Jones on the phone, after years of reading his words and edits. Since then, I have been on the receiving end of so much love from friends, acquaintances, and kind strangers. That has filled at least a few dreary days in lab with light.Continue reading “Love and light at the end of the tunnel”