National Poetry Month: Franny Choi
Created by Bob Helmbrecht, collection development librarian
Franny Choi is our contemporary poet for today.
Choi’s debut collection was "Floating, Brilliant, Gone," published in 2014. Poet Rick Benjamin wrote of it "Franny Choi writes rangy, risky poems. This is a breath-taking debut by a gifted young poet, who is only at the beginning of her transit. How lucky for the rest of us to be around for the ride."
“Soft Science,” published in 2019 by Alice James Books, was Choi’s second collection. It was awarded the 2020 Elgin Award for Best Poetry Book from the Science Fiction Poetry Association. From the publisher's description: "'Soft Science' explores queer, Asian American femininity. A series of Turing Test-inspired poems grounds its exploration of questions not just of identity, but of consciousness--how to be tender and feeling and still survive a violent world filled with artificial intelligence and automation." “The New York Times Book Review” wrote the "highlight of Choi’s second collection is a dazzling sequence of poems about a cyborg, using artificial intelligence as a way to explore alienation, queer identity and authenticity."
"The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On," published in 2022 by Ecco, is Choi's most recent collection. From the publisher's description: "Choi's third book features poems about historical and impending apocalypses, alongside musings on our responsibilities to each other and visions for our collective survival." Author Roxane Gay said of the book: "Franny Choi is one of my favorite poets and her new collection does not disappoint. These are incisive, elegant poems. There is a throughline of grief in many of the poem but the work demonstrates both stylistic and intellectual range. So excited for people to get into this book."
Check out one of Franny Choi’s books today!
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