Her poetry books include OBIT, Barbie Chang, The Boss, Salvinia Molesta, and Circle. Chang also thoughtfully examines how she will be remembered by her own children in time. Victoria Chang is the author of Dear Memory. Although Chang initially balked at writing an obituary, she soon found herself writing eulogies for the small losses that preceded and followed her mother's death, each one an ode to her mother's life and influence. Victoria Chang captures this visceral, heart-stopping ache in Obit, the book of poetry she wrote after the death of her mother. Indeed, this daily indifference to being left behind epitomizes the unique pain of grieving. Copper Canyon,, 17 ISBN 978-1-55659-574-5 The exceptional fifth book from Chang ( Barbie Chang) does not open with death, at least not in the way its title might. Nor does it allow you to linger as you learn to live with a gaping hole in your heart. 'When you lose someone you love, the world doesn't stop to let you mourn. In this unflinching and lyrical book, Chang meets her grief and creates a powerful testament for the living. Whereas elegy attempts to immortalize the dead, an obituary expresses loss, and the love for the dead becomes a conduit for self-expression.

In Obit, Chang writes of 'the way memory gets up after someone has died and starts walking.' These poems reinvent the form of newspaper obituary to both name what has died ('civility,' 'language,' 'the future,' 'Mother's blue dress') and the cultural impact of death on the living. Rather, she distilled her grief during a feverish two weeks by writing scores of poetic obituaries for all she lost in the world. Time Magazine 's 100 Must-Read Books of 2020Īfter her mother died, poet Victoria Chang refused to write elegies. The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2020

Obit by Victoria Chang