Interview with Marilyn Chin

Abstract

Marilyn Chin identifies herself as a “poet of the body,” and in the following conversation, she explains the importance of the literal, metaphorical, and cultural body in her poetry. She speaks candidly about her position as a poet—specifically a Chinese American woman writing poetry and fiction. Unabashedly feminist, Chin weaves the personal into the political and makes the personal political, and this interweaving implicates the body. She notes the influence of feminist poets such as Adrienne Rich, June Jordan, and Misuye Yamada, among others; however, she also attributes her activism and her “allegorical imagination” to both her Chinese roots and her familial experiences. Although these cultural and familial contexts emerge as important aspects of Chin’s poetry, they do not stand alone. As Chin makes clear, she feels a deep commitment to putting history on paper in order to address contemporary social and political issues. Editorial and. grammatical changes were made to the following dialogue, but the text has remained the same for the most part.