Writing Under Constraints, with John Yau

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | John Yau has published over fifty books of poetry, fiction, and art criticism. His most recent books of poetry include Tell It Slant (Omnidawn, 2023), Bijoux in the Dark (Letter Machine Editions, 2018), and Further Adventures in Monochrome (Copper Canyon, 2012). Born in Lynn, Massachusetts to Chinese emigrants, he is the founding editor of the small press Black Square Editions and Professor of Critical Studies at Rutgers Unviersity’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. His work has been honored with the Jackson Poetry Prize; fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ingram-Merrill Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation; and the Rabkin Prize for excellence in visual arts journalism. His books of art criticism include In the Realm of Appearances: The Art of Andy Warhol and A Thing Among Things: The Art of Jasper Johns, as well as monographs on Wifredo Lam, Thomas Nozkowski, Joe Brainard, Catherine Murphy, A. R. Penck, Richard Artschwager, Pat Steir, Liu Xiaodong, and Kim Tschang-yeul.

Photo credit: Jack Mitchell