Schedule Update

After some deliberation, I've made some decisions about the remaining schedule:

• On Thursday, we will discuss postcolonial theory as planned. Please make sure to read the chapter in Critical Theory Today. I will also be scheduling conferences and saying some things about your presentations.
• On Tuesday (4/20), I will be meeting with students individually in my office while there is a peer review happening in the classroom. I will also have conference times available on Monday (4/19) and Wednesday (4/21). The peer review is optional, but it is strongly recommended. Even if you are conferencing with me on that day, that conference will only last for 10 minutes. You can still participate in peer review.
• I am cancelling the discussion of Unaccustomed Earth. It is a long story, and I don't want to overburden you over these last several class periods. But do please read it when you get a chance. It is really worth your time.
• The final paper is now due at the time of your presentation. This means that your paper will be handed in on either 4/22 or 4/27.
• I have posted a revised schedule to the documents site. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Battle of Intersectionality

In all that is portrayed through Laurel's eyes, it seems Arnetta has been raised to believe so thoroughly that she is inferior to no one. I'm not sure we're given enough information to know if Arnetta acts out in intra-racial racism, being the 'top dog' among peers of her own color. Regardless, it is obvious that she is the leader and will put down anyone and anything to keep her reign as the superior. And since these girls live in a place in Atlanta that is so secluded and sheltered from white people, the exact opposite of internalized racism seems to have grown inside Arnetta's soul. I would imagine her parents fought long and hard for equality, thereby instilling in their daughter the belief that blacks deserve to be 'on top' and she should do everything in her power to ensure that.

I believe Packer made Troop 909 a special needs group to make it evident that Arnetta was lying in order to exercise her believed power over the white girls. The mere possibility that Arnetta is telling the truth is squashed when we read one of the girl's response, "That's a BAD word! We don't say BAD words!" (23). Troop 909 has been taught to be kind and generous, and to use social graces - despite race or any other differences. We see this exemplified when Laurel narrates, "My restroom group had passed by some of the 909 girls. For the most part, they deferred to us, waving us into the restrooms, letting us go even though they'd gotten there first" (7).

This experience, coupled with Laurel's remembrance of her father and the Mennonite family stir up questions about what race really means in the world. She becomes truly aware that there is "something mean in the world [she] could not stop" (31). This sense of awakening allows Laurel to start on a new path as an "emergent woman" - 'creating a new life and new choices for herself' (Tyson, 390). And I just have to say, the tender interaction between Daphne and Laurel is a beautiful tale of friendship, change, and growing up.

Color

One thing in particular that I found interesting within the text of "Brownies" was the double vision that the author portrays the characters to have. The feeling of "belonging to two conflicting cultures" (Tyson 362) is prevalent--especially with how these girls see the world vs. their own, even within just the girls camp. Just how Tyson describes in the chapter, as well as what we touched on in class, we (as white people) do not see things like they do--we have the granted white privilege and are not subject to having to think about all the numerous things a minority might have to encounter. Even within the beginning of the text the word choice picks up subtle hints that show us the perspective of living in a "colored life." The first two paragraphs clearly illustrate these points, examples such as: how the Brownie troop (color brown obviously) depicts the troop 909 (strawberry, vanilla, etc.) and the "washed out rainbows" (having no color--in contrast to them) and then how they (the brownie troop) see the world as the walk their way down the trail seeing it as very "colorful." Throughout the story the author uses these factors, and others, to show how the mind and perception of the world is different in all eyes--even if we say we are all equal.

Brownies

Tyson poses the question "What can the work teach us about the specifics of African heritage, African American culture and experience, and/or African American history?" (p. 394). "Brownies" illustrates the marginalization of the black girls in this story and the prejudice they have felt directed at them because of their race. Immediately upon seeing the "caucasians" they decide to beat them up, claiming the white girls called them "niggers". The very presence of these white girls makes their skin crawl with anger. This shows the hatred they have felt in their own lives from other cultures, particularly white people (look at their history - specifically slavery in America). As I looked through the terms in the book, Internalized racism stood out to me. The definition is "the psychological programming by which a racist society indoctrinates people of color to believe in white superiority". Although these girls are fiercely fighting against this idea, it is clear that their ideas and perceptions of the white girls has been impacted by culture. The view the girls "real and memorable, with their long, shampoo-commercial hair". They view them as elite "white girls and their mothers coo-cooing over dresses" in Rich's clothing store and they have seen white business men swish by "importantly". These girls are viewed as "ponytailed and full of energy, bubbling over with love and money." The society they live in has told them they are the lesser of the two cultures and the very fact that they fight against these white girls and their "long spaghetti straight hair" tells that they truly do believe in a white superiority. The hegemony, or dominance of the whites, is evident to these young girls.

Brownies

Arnetta and Octavia are interesting characters in the story "Brownies" I was surprised at the hatred that was so deep inside them both, not only for whites but for their own race. They are demeaning and hurtful to girls within their own troop. Of course Laurel would make the statement, "No one talked about fighting. Everyone was afraid enough just walking through the infinite deep woods. Even though I did’t fight to fight, was afraid of fighting, I felt I was part of the rest of the troop, like I was defending something. We trudged against the slight incline of the path, Arnetta leading the way."
She made this statement because even though she and the other girls didn't want to fight, at least they felt wanted and apart of something for a change rather than being made fun of.

The idea that when you have been wronged you wrong others is such an interesting idea that has been put in these young girls minds. The troop leader as they said would have stopped the girls and told them to do good unto others.. so where did this hatred and idea of righting the wrongs that the "whites" or others come from? Most likely their parents... who sure probably deserve to say those things... they were wronged and hurt themselves... but when does it end?? I mean they were going to try and kick the asses of mentally disabled girls!! If for one second they stopped to look at who these girls were from troop 909 rather than their skin things would have been different?

Why is it that justice is served with vengence. society has taken something from us whether we are white, black, red, blue... whatever.. that is what Daphene ends the story with "Just to be nice."

"Borwnies"

In my opinion, none of the girls from troop 909 ever said the word they were acused of saying. These girls live in a cultural hegemony, where white America is dominant. Although they live in Atlanta where Laurel compares seeing a white person to seeing a baby pigeon, they are still aware of this hegemony. Since they are aware of it but never around it, the arrival of a troop of white girls will automatically raise defenses. For all the reader knows, this is the first real interraction the girls have had with girls from the society that they know is priveledged. Being at the camp puts both troops on equal ground, and I think girls like Arnetta and Octavia, who are used to being dominant and in control, are going to do whatever they can to prove they are superior. I doubt that any of the 909 girls made such a comment. The girls were just looking for it so they could fight and show who is really the toughest.

I also find it interesting that even though there is a girl with the echolalic disability, which would have been an easy out for the accusing girls, Arnetta still claims it was another girl. But she blames the girl that is the smallest of the bunch. She seems to be trying to pick on the "weakest" of the bunch, which is exactly what she does with the girls in her own troop, like Janice, Laurel and Daphne.

Snot is Assimilated

I would say that Snot can mostly be described as an assimilated woman. She is never seen talking badly about troop 909, unlike most of the other girls, and she usually keeps pretty quiet. When she does talk it is to disarm the situation and give the troop 909 girls the benefit of the doubt. Even when they are planning to go and confront them in the bathroom she wants to stay back, because she has no reason fight the white girls. She receives psychological abuse from her peers for being the one that doesn't follow the crowd. This happens in the form of name calling, like when she is threatened to be called a bitch for potentially telling their leader.

In the last section we find out that Laurel did not feel good about her father's decision to make the Mennonite's paint the porch because it would be the only time a white person would labor for a black person. I think Laurel didn't like it because she did not posses ill feelings towards white people, and therefore was somewhat assimilated.

Brownies

Throughout the story, Laurel is sort of seen as the outsider and the one that is made fun of. But when the troop has a common “enemy,” they are one group with one purpose, and even though Laurel is “afraid of fighting,” she feels like part of the troop as they travel to the bathrooms to meet up with Troop 909. The girls in Laurel’s troop do not appreciate the possibility of one of their members being called a terrible name by a girl in Troop 909 and were probably raised to not believe that whites are superior, but to believe that the whites think they are superior. The racialism that the girls believe happened to one of their own must be dealt with. I loved the twist in the story that revealed Troop 909 as a group of special needs girls. Those with special needs have also been discriminated against and it proved to the girls that they weren’t the only group of people that experienced prejudices or judgments. I don’t know if the girls fully understood that, but maybe they will later in life while looking back at the memory. I believe that if the girls of Troop 909 did fit the clichés that were presented in the story, the other girls would have felt fully justified in fighting them and pulling out their “shampoo-commercial hair.” Their assumptions about them would have been correct and the possibility of one of them calling Daphne that name would have seemed greater.

Brownies

How often do we ridicule or put down people who are different from us, especially those whose differences are visible and physical? How much of that is human nature and how much of that has been taught to us by society? As Tyson says, “racial categorization doesn’t reflect biological reality but rather the current beliefs about race at different times” (372). It is something constructed by the society surrounding us. I felt that the girls in this story had been greatly influenced by society and their parents to believe certain things about race and racism. Arnetta and Octavia have learned from society that race can be used as a weapon. They use the term “Caucasian” to condemn someone who acts differently: “The word took off from there, and soon everything was Caucasian. If you ate too fast you ate like a Caucasian, if you ate to slow you ate like a Caucasian” (4). Laurel and her fellow troop members aren’t even around whites at home: “When you lived in the south suburbs of Atlanta, it was easy to forget about whites. Whites were like those baby pigeons: real and existing, but rarely seen or thought about” (5). Their impression of whites comes from images on the TV and what their parents have taught them: “We had all been taught that adulthood was full of sorrow and pain, taxes and bills, dreaded work and dealings with whites, sickness and death” (19), “‘My father and I were in this mall, but I was the one doing the staring…He said…it was the only time he’d have a white man on his knees doing something for a black man for free’” (29-30), “When you’ve been made to feel bad for so long, you jump at the chance to do it to others” (31). Similarly, the girls of Troop 909 would only have learned the word “nigger” from their parents: “‘I mean, not all of them have the most progressive of parents, so if they heard a bad word, they might have repeated it. But I guarantee it would not have been intentional’” (26).

There are also signs of internalized racism in the story: “The ten white girls…with their long, shampoo-commercial hair, straight as spaghetti from the box. This alone was reason for envy and hatred. The only black girl most of us had ever seen with hair that long was Octavia…The sight of Octavia’s mane prompted other girls to listen to her reverentially” (5). Octavia receives her power from her long hair, a characteristic she shares with the white girls. She is respected by the other girls in her troop because she is like the white girls, thus encouraging the psychological programming that white is inherently superior. It seems that Laurel’s positive descriptions of the girls prove that she has internalized white superiority: “their complexions a blend of ice cream: strawberry, vanilla” (1), “the way all white girls appeared on TV—ponytailed and full of energy, bubbling over with love and money” (7). The internalized racism is further solidified by Laurel’s negative descriptions of “most of the girls in the troop”: “they’d be bunched-up wads of tinfoil, maybe, or rusty iron nails you had to get tetanus shots for” (18).

In the story Brownies, Laurel seems to be all three salient types in different ways. However, in the end she seems to be an emergent women. Throughout this story, she doesn't seem to have much control over how her friends treat troop 909, or how they treat her. She finds herself going along with her friends to be a part of the troop.

In the end, Laurel shares the story about the Amish family and discovers that there is a big problem in the world. This is an experience in her life that has caused her to open her eyes to existing problems. She seems to be disturbed by it and is on her way to becoming an emergent woman. In discovering the racism problems that exist in the world, Laurel now has the ability, as an emerging women, to make a difference through improved choices. She can now make a difference.

Prompts for "Brownies"

I would like to begin a discussion of "Brownies" that incorporates the vocabulary from Chapter 11. My only requirement is that you incorporate vocabulary from the list. It might help you to look at the questions on pages 394-95, but please do not feel obligated to stick to those questions. Just respond in an intelligent, thoughtful manner. Perhaps I can start us off by asking a few questions:

After reviewing page 390, which term would you use to describe the narrator, Laurel ("Snot")? Is she a "suspended woman," an "assimilated woman," an "emergent woman," or a "liberated woman"? Use specific examples from the story.

"Brownies" obviously takes place in the 1980s (the cultural references reveal this). If these girls are about 10 years old at this time, what does that tell us about their parents? What did they live through? How does that inform the story?

How much time do you think has passed between when the story happened and when it is being told? How old is the narrator? What clues does the story give you? (For example, look at all the overt references Laurel makes to language, literary devices, and grammar; why are those in the story?)

Do you think Arnetta really heard one of the girls in Troop 909 use a racial slur? Is it at least a possibility, or are we meant to believe Arnetta is lying?

Interpret this passage: "No one talked about fighting. Everyone was afraid enough just walking through the infinite deep woods. Even though I didn’t fight to fight, was afraid of fighting, I felt I was part of the rest of the troop, like I was defending something. We trudged against the slight incline of the path, Arnetta leading the way."

Why do you think Packer makes Troop 909 a special needs troop? How would the story be different if the girls did seem to conform more closely to the cliches at the beginning of the story (Disney characters, shampoo-commercial hair, etc.)?

I hope these questions are helpful. Don't feel obligated to answer any of them. Just be sure to use the vocabulary. See you on Tuesday.

EROS APTEROS

I really like this poem. When I read it the first time I was just reading it to try and figure out how it might be gay poetry. But after talking about it in class, I've been reading it with a broader perspective. This poem seems like a desperate attempt at being saved. The person that is described in this poem isn't in a good spot. The physical description of his mutilated body is fatal; no limbs, only a torso is left. This seems to represent the soul, or the spirituality. A soul without ability to move, or without control. Lui's hands are hurting the distorted body, or in other words: his hands are destroying his soul to the point that he can't even feel right from wrong anymore. There's no feeling anymore, just actions and patterns leading him away from the God and morals he knows to be true. This reminds me of the repentance process, and the feelings that are involved

timothy Liu

"My Asianness, my Mormon roots, my homosexuality, are but a part of my being and therefore but a part of my poetry."

These words from Timothy Liu stood out the most to me while reading his interview. This sentence helped me to look at his poems from a different lens. Knowing that all of the things that Timothy Liu is associated with is only a part of what his poetry brings to us the reader. Because I would say I have more homophobic tendencies, I was a little afraid on my own biased opinion or outlook on the poetry knowing that it's material was mostly a gay perspective, what I then learned was that I could look at the poems differently and not have a bias outlook on the poetry itself. The format of the three poems are so different but I think that all three have a language and rhythm that create beautiful and natural images of experience in the poems. I find the natural instincts the poem create quite refreshing. Take the first couple lines of More than Half The Leaves Already Down "Dragging that plastic sheet across the lawn like a canoe filled with the season's last leaves"... already you are set up with a image that captures you. instead of relating everything back to homosexuality in the poems I seemed to focus on the fact that Timothy Liu is a remarkable poet no matter if he is gay or not.

Timothy Liu Poems

I think that it is valuable reading literature from both the gay and heterosexual perspective, because despite ones sexual preference, both can relate to similar experiences, like love, guilt, pain, etc.

I feel that all three poems speak of a secret love. The first, about the leaves, tells of being able to enjoy a secret and longed for experience, which I assume is being able to love his partner unrestrained by societies judging gaze. The experience is made metaphor by the raking of fall leaves, discovering something beautiful in the middle of a mundane chore. Later, away from work and everyone else, that love is quietly rekindled in a boat on the waters. I think this poem speaks to everyone who has had a first love, or enjoyed a secret love, despite their sexuality.

The Other poems speak of the pain of secret love, of the fear of judgment, and the guilt of conscience. All of us are imperfect and have felt the pangs of harboring some secret, or feeling that we are on the outside looking in, or perhaps something that we love is condemned by the surrounding majority.

I also think that for those of us who are heterosexual, reading this kind of poetry can help us appreciate what it feels like to feel forbidden love more poignantly, just as we can read other literature to try and gain some perspective on the feelings of any marginalized group of people.

LGBT reading of "The Quilt"

I am not sure where to begin commenting on "The Quilt" and Liu. After reading the other responses, it became apparent to me that I am also the product of a strictly heterocentric upbringing and community. I have found it difficult to remove myself from the reading, seeing past the biases I possess. "The Quilt" explores the biases of such a community, or perhaps even a world. Liu describes those suffering from AIDS and persecution as "a fallen choir" "patterns of grief" "patches of color" who are fading. He works to inform the reader of the growth of the epidemic, which is now "covering the earth's four corners". To me, Liu is informing the reader that to be what one may call "homophobic" is cruel and brings death, a death of understanding, as well as a marginalized group of individuals.
The patchwork of the quilt shows these lives as patchy and held together by a simple thread, yet they are all working together (as he works to save these victims as a nurse) to find a cure for the disease, as well as the heterocentrism apparent in society. Minoritizing views, or helping others understand gay and lesbian experience and their minority state, are shared in this piece. We see that they are a marginalized group, not receiving the help they need, and the acceptance as well. It was also interesting to read that the government was not willing to help with AIDS research until the disease threatened heterosexual people as well as homosexuals. (p.331). Liu writes "...but we will go on loving, embracing our own grief..." This particular criticism has helped me view this group in a slightly different way, as a marginalized group of people with different backgrounds and beliefs who do not particularly "fit in" to a patriarchal society, or "the social norm".

Eros Apteros

After reading Eros Apteros, i think he was writing about his christian beliefs and also his conflict with his sexuality. We were told in class that Timothy believed in christianity and belonged to the mormon church. Many people don't believe homosexuality is congruent with mormonism. A line that stood out to me in liu's poem was "its mutilated testicles." Perhaps he is referring to his conflict with his sexual desires? He talks about how the oil and sweat on his hands continue to hurt this body beyond feeling. I think he is talking about how his sins caused christ to suffer. He makes reference to the time when christ lived saying "winding back two thousand years."In the poem there are also other references to christian beliefs such as "such guilt" and "I've come to be healed."

Liu

Ashley mentions below that “we are more apt to attach someone’s sexuality to their identity if they are outside of the ‘norm’ of heterosexual society. We probably wouldn’t think to ask Liu how his sexuality affected his writing if he was a heterosexual man.”

So how does knowing Liu is gay affect my reading of “More Than Half the Leaves Already Down”? Well, despite knowing that and despite trying to read the poem through an LGBT lens, I see no evidence of homosexuality in it. The speaker and the addressed could be male or female, gay or straight. And only a few phrases, “such romantic / foreplay” and “This was the dance I had always wanted,” indicate an erotic relationship between the two characters. Without those, the poem could just as likely be describing a homosocial or heterosocial relationship as it could be referring to an erotic one. Well, I guess some of the words in the canoeing images have sort of erotic connotations: “sudden tenderness. . . . [E]ach stroke suspended . . . our bodies leaning.” Again, though, the genders of the characters are undefined, and inconsequential, as far as I can tell. Gender and sexual preference don’t seem to matter much to the poem, which appears to me to be about finding joy and love in spite of death and hardship.

(Unrelated to LGBT theory, here’s something I really like about “The Quilt”: it has some great line breaks. For instance, take a look at the last four stanzas, how the line breaks add so much depth to a single sentence. If the sentence were prose, it would read, “That story has not changed, but we will go on loving, embracing our own grief, our lives split open like a book where the names are written.” But with line breaks, “That story // has not changed, but we will” becomes “but we will / go on loving, embracing,” which becomes “embracing // our own grief, our lives.” Very cool.)

Gay Criticism

The quilt by Timothy Liu, tells teh story of the AIDs epidemic and its devastation particularly in the Gay Community. As a teenager and young adult i the 1980s, the AIDs epidemic seemed to be a world away from my own community. It wasn't until I was in my late 20s that I found out how many of my friends from high school were gay and were being affected by this disease. The sadness of losing my friends to this terrible thing became heavy and hard to bare. AIDs doesn't just affect a limited number of people, nor does it just affect one particular community. AIDs affects everyone. My friend's parents weren't the only ones grieving; we all grieved for the loss of our friends. It didn't really matter what killed them, what mattered was that they were gone. Their voices were silenced.

The Quilt brough back memories of one friend in particular, my friend Joey. We grew up together in Southern California and at 28 Joey died from complications of AIDs. Joes was a loving talented singer. Listening to him was like listening to an angel in a choir. He was so talented and warm and loving. His choices were different than mine, but we were still friends. When he died, the world lost a wonderful human being and this is what I feel Liu is trying to tell the world with this poem. These are real people dying from a terrible disease. They deserve the dignity we would give any man who is breathing his last breath. The world is losing talented, courageous and loving human beings and their story is worth telling and listening to. They may be gone but they will always be remembered, "where their names are written" is in our hearts.

The Quilt

In class, we discussed how we are more apt to attach someone’s sexuality to their identity if they are outside of the “norm” of heterosexual society. We probably wouldn’t think to ask Liu how his sexuality affected his writing if he was a heterosexual man. I feel that we’re only interested in that aspect because it doesn’t fit our heterosexual, patriarchal society. After reading the Q & A, I was able to see that Liu, especially in The Quilt, writes about his experiences just like any other writer would. His homosexuality influences his experiences just like race, religion, gender, etc. would influence anyone else’s writing. While reading Liu’s poems, I was able to see how much heterocentrism influences my interpretations. I felt that Liu’s poems stand in direct defiance of this assumption, showing that there isn’t a “universal norm by which everyone’s experience can be understood” (Tyson 320-21). Whether we think homosexuality is moral or not, there is no denying that Liu’s sexuality influences his poetry.

In The Quilt, Liu shows us that everyone experiences “life and death together” no matter what their sexuality: “The men who die and die in each other’s arms, leaving us their names”, “Each day the quilt spreads out more rapidly, covering the earth’s four corners”, “Who can sleep tonight when beds are soaked with sweat, when bodies are being sponged away”, “consider death without judgement”. My first reading of the poem was difficult because I am definitely influenced by the heterosexual “norm” of society. A reread of the poem, aided by the extra information provided below, helped me to understand this poem better through Liu’s view. I liked how he separated the words in line 5 and 6. The first line, “the men who die” seems to be a separate thought, emphasizing that the individuals dying aren’t just gay men but they are men, human beings. Their sexuality should not deem whether their suffering warrants sympathy and sorrow. They at least deserve a “death without judgement”. Lines 12-15 again emphasize that AIDS is afflicting people worldwide, not just homosexual individuals. The ending was confusing for me but I felt that he was saying that they will go on “loving, embracing” whether they are accepted by the heterosexual community or not.

The Wingless Goddess

Each of the three poems brings something unique to the table. However, as I read Eros Apteros I found myself researching and analyzing the text to figure out what his message was conveying. As I studied the material I first realized that I needed to have an understanding to the title. I had to break down both words; the first Eros, meaning passionate love, with sensual desire and longing, the second Apteros, of which I found to be the goddess Nice, goddess of victory. She was usually represented with wings, but their absence was a signifier that victory would or could never fly away from Athens. From this description I felt like I could have a better understanding of some of the symbolism Liu was trying to key us in on. The first lines, “The wings are no longer there to lift this god out of time,” could lay reference to Liu’s LDS background and how he is unable to become like a god because of his sexuality. This is followed by the 3rd to 7th line where Liu expresses “I have come to be healed,” which may be an indicator that he is searching to repent for a sin he thinks that he has committed. In the 8th line Liu tells of the statues “limbs severed above the elbows, below the hips its mutilated sex, testicles hanging in a stone sack,” has two different metaphors that I saw connected to it. The first about the limbs and other appendages being severed makes me draw the assumption that feeling is something that is non-existent now. The second part about the testicles hanging in a stone sack, as I interpreted it, refers to his sex being hidden by something that is impossible to get to. However in the next set of lines, Liu expresses the “the oil and sweat on my hands continue to hurt this body beyond feeling,” which I think could be interpreted as the sins that he believes he is committing are causing him to be numb in his self conscience. In the conclusion of Liu’s poem lines 15 through 19 I believe Liu comes into the realization that he is still here and a viable contributor to society. The connection with the statue he describes shouldn’t hinder his beliefs, but rather it should empower him and endure as this statue has for two thousand years.

Prompts for Timothy Liu

At this point in the semester, I feel like I can ease back on giving you really specific prompts. You have clearly demonstrated your abilities to apply theory in appropriate and exciting ways (even though some of you are not as confident about your abilities as you should be).

For Tuesday, then, I would like for you to carefully read the poetry by Timothy Liu. When I say carefully read the poetry, I mean that you should read the poems several times and give yourselves time to think about them. Annotate them and work your way into the symbolism, metaphor, and sound. Look at the way Liu shapes his lines and arranges words together. Pay attention to the nuances of his rhythms. Don't just read the poems ten minutes before class. Once you are familiar with the poems, write a thoughtful response that incorporates ideas and terminology from LGBT theory. That is as specific as I would like to make this prompt. However, let me give you some things to think about as you read these poems:

1. Liu has explored the AIDS epidemic in America in more detail than most poets. Much of his work, including "The Quilt" rises out of his experience as a volunteer working with AIDS patients. While we of course know that AIDS is not a "gay" disease, Liu's own sexuality clearly informs many of his poems about AIDS and those who have the disease.

2. "Eros Apteros" means "wingless love" or "love without wings." Many classical statues and shrines have missing/broken body parts, and Liu clearly uses this imagery to inform his poem.

3. Here is an excerpt from a Q and A that will give you some insight into Liu's background:

Q: Let’s start with the basics--where and when you were born, where you studied, your greatest poetic influences, work, degrees, favorite teachers, how you came to be a poet, and if any of this background really sticks to your writing.

A: I was born in San Jose, California in 1965 and educated at UCLA, Brigham Young University (B.A. in English) the University of Houston (M.A. in English) and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In addition to California, Utah, Texas, and Massachusetts, I lived in Hong Kong for two years as a Mormon missionary and four years in Iowa as an Assistant Professor at Cornell College. I currently reside in Hoboken and teach at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ. Place always affects my imagination, so these various locales do also pressurize my work. Favorite poets as an undergraduate included Louise Gluck, Linda Gregg, and Jean Valentine. Recent favorites include Gustaf Sobin and Charles Wright. Three mentors in my first decade of writing were crucial to my sense of self as a writer: a Welsh poet named Leslie Norris, the poet Richard Howard, and the writer/editor Gordon Lish. Without their eyes and constant attention, who knows where I would have ended up? On being a poet: the commitment was gradual, like religion or playing a musical instrument. First half an hour a day, and then, years later, five to six hours a day of reading and writing. If not poetry, then surely something else would have come along to equally demand my energies.

Q: Martin Espada has said his subject, identity, and audience exist in concentric circles: Puerto Ricans, Latinos, people of color, the Left, the working class, and anyone who will listen. Mary Oliver, in A Poetry Handbook, suggests poems be written for some stranger in a distant country hundreds of years from now. Who and where is the audience for which you write as an Asian, as a Mormon, as a gay man?

A: I would start with readers of contemporary poetry. There are so many great books written in prose about the various identities that I occupy, so to me, that is not the point. The point is poetry, the experience of reading it and writing it. My Asianness, my Mormon roots, my homosexuality, are but a part of my being and therefore but a part of my poetry. Therefore, in addition to those identities, there are countless others. None of the poets I have previously mentioned (Gluck, Gregg, Sobin, Valentine, Wright) share with me the identities that you mention. Now what are we to make of that?

Q: How has the work of other gay writers affected your own work?

A: The work of other gay writers has helped to make my own work possible. My debt to Allen Ginsberg, Adrienne Rich, and scores of others is immense. I am currently editing an anthology of gay American poetry for Talisman House, an innovative press that makes its home in Jersey City. I plan to represent work by over forty poets who have been publishing over the past fifty years. While previous anthologies have been loyal to representing “gay experience,” my anthology seeks to complicate the relationship between one’s sexuality and one’s textuality. Collecting poems that span the gamut from traditional to radical forms, I hope the need to label a poem or poet as gay is brought into question.

Thanks. I am looking forward to reading your responses and talking about them. Please do justice to the poetry and to the theory.