When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities (A. Poulin, Jr. New Poets of America)

Chen Chen's debut collection, "When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Instructions," is a wild and deeply moving exploration of inherited forms of love and family from Asian American, immigrant, and queer perspectives.

Through free-associating and switching between lingo and 'higher' forms of diction, Chen Chen investigates the cost of necessary goodbyes and the abundant joy that come with charting one's own path in identity, life, and love.

This collection is thoroughly of the moment, devoted to explaining who Chen Chen is and how he got here, and tells the many stories that collude into identity.

It is a must-read for anyone interested in contemporary poetry and the experiences of Chinese-American individuals.