Chen Chen

omg!!

is the heated rivalry fandom as deranged on here as it is on twitter

i am not here to write a dissertation or participate in a “forum” of ideas. i am here to share poems and gay thoughts

half the time i don’t even look at my replies or quotes and that seems to be the right choice

sooo i still don’t post as much on here because some of the replies are just annoying. why are you so earnest and grim and determined to read a vague post in the most dire possible way

i am mainly talking about the conservative reaction to bad bunny lol.

and when you’re queer, the disdain for your joy is most often rooted in homophobia, like who are you to be having fun (and so visibly!) you should be miserable (invisibly!). but it’s the homophobe who’s most miserable

it’s so funny when someone can’t stand you being silly and having fun. and it’s not just jealousy. it’s clear they think you’re not taking life seriously enough, when pure joy is one of the most serious things you can do or be

a lot of people are bad at joy or like, having fun for a moment, i guess

Omggggggg

😍

🎉♥️

i wrote a collection with my bestie and it’s gonna be out in the world soooooon. like, actually.

Coming March 6th, 2026, LOVE THAT FOR US by Chen Chen (@chenchenwrites.bsky.social) and Sam Herschel Wein (@samforbreakfast.bsky.social) is now available for pre-order!!

www.andchangepoetry.com/books/p/love...

and many thanks to Maggie Millner and the poetry team at the review. this is a dream publication, as i think TYR is publishing some of the most exciting contemporary writing (love the essays, too).

i’m realizing now, rereading this poem, how it’s a sort of love letter to Rochester. and to friendships, especially among writers. my deep gratitude to Al Abonado for the brilliant poem-making and equally brilliant community-building—thank you for all your kindness and all that you do for writers.

🫐 new poem in the yale review 🫐

"I wouldn’t want anyone to actually visit
my past, to walk right into it like a coffee shop,
where the music playing is bad, where my mistakes are
just happening for however long they take & my present self
isn’t there to sigh, then say, Wait, please,"
@chenchenwrites.bsky.social !

i work at the intersections of gay and homosexual

it's seriously the best. it's flower arranging but for, like, humanity.

I can’t hardly stand it this is so light footed and melancholic. All I want to do today is read it. Thank you @chenchenwrites.bsky.social.

Beautiful, sad and sweet, by @chenchenwrites.bsky.social in @yalereview.bsky.social 🫐
yalereview.org/article/chen...

Chen Chen: “Tale of the Blueberries” A poem by Chen Chen: “I needed a cold book for the warm weather.”

"I had fallen in love with the past
tense, wishing I could always speak in it & end
most of my verbs with a firmness that felt
like clarity. But
that was no way to order an iced mocha."

From "Tale of the Blueberries" by Chen Chen, TYR's Poem of the Week:

wow i love putting together a packet of other people's poems for teaching. it's one of my favorite things. assembling a packet of other people's poems for a class. like, i can't wait to share something beautiful. and talk about it together. other people's poems. a packet of them!

winter needs to be 2-3 months shorter

Neon Night Mic AWP Offsite Reading Hosted by [neonpajamas] Alina Stefanescu Jose Hernandez Diaz Michael Martone Annelyse Gelman Nicky Beer Chen Chen Johannes Goransson Alina Pleskova Katie Jean Shinkle C.T. Salazar David Simmons David Wojciechowski Kenyatta Rogers Henry Goldkamp Matt Bell Grant Wamack Jon Woodward @ Old Major 900 S. Carey St. Batimore Wednesday, March 4 Doors: 6:00pm Readings: 7:00pm-10:00pm

AWP 💥 BALTIMORE 🚨 Mark your calendars‼️

It’s all happening on March 4. See you there?

catherine o'hara. no no no. not you. and i never use this word, but what an actual genius.

"success" means getting to stay true to why i love writing. "success" means being able to take in others' feedback without internalizing all of it and without watering down what i want to do

"success" in a creative field for me means understanding more deeply what i want to do creatively—and getting to do it

for me, writing is about freedom or trying to be as free as possible in language. publishing is about conventions, other people's (sometimes very conventional) thinking, and how far you can stray (in some genres, like poetry, more than others, but still)