Cathy Linh Che is the author of the poetry collection Split (Alice James Books), winner of the Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America, and the Best Poetry Book Award from the Association of Asian American Studies. She has received awards from Poets House, Poets & Writers, and Artist Trust. She works as Executive Director for Kundiman, teaches at Fordham University, and lives in Brooklyn.
He says: I want it to smell / like the real thing. // The real thing / is a landscape // of work and death–– / the names of our ancestors // slack in our mouths, / just the art of loving // your family line enough / to reproduce it.