iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives. —Toni Morrison

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

to queer or not to queer. no. the question is, how to queer further, queer the queerest

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Lauren Eggert-Crowe @laureneggertcrowe.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Oh wow I can't wait for this!

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Tucker @tjchc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Hellllll yes something to look forward to this winter 🥰

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Cover reveal + preorder link for my very gaysian book of craft essays!! IN CAHOOTS WITH THE RABBIT GOD out December 1st 💫 🐇

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

the more we dance the better our poems —CAConrad

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

i am nonchalantly gay but chalantly homosexual. like, i take it very seriously. i am forever in awe of homosexuality. i am eternally a student of homo ways of knowing & being.

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BOA Editions @boa-editions.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Boa's 50th Anniversary Gala is in two days, and we in the Boa office are so excited to share this beautiful evening with our community. If you've yet to purchase your ticket, it isn't too late! Find out more at the link in our bio!

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Noemi Press @noemipress.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

In Cahoots with the Rabbit God by @chenchenwrites.bsky.social is now available for preorder on the Noemi website: www.noemipress.org/catalog/infi... Set for publication December 1st, 2026 Cover by Roda Avelar

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Split Lip Magazine @splitlipthemag.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

"Yes, I want / to be disturbed again—by my phone, & by the world, I guess." You've got to check out @chenchenwrites.bsky.social's IN THE FOREST OF MY OWN TEARS I SUDDENLY REMEMBER WANDA from our SEPTEMBER ISSUE. 🌲 💚 buff.ly/E0Wlz4L

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BOA Editions @boa-editions.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Submissions for Boa's 26th annual A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize are open now through November 30th! Last year's winner, Alejandro Lucero, shares some words about what winning the Poulin Prize means to him. For more information regarding eligibility and submission requirements, visit boaeditions.org.

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

To live in this world you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go. —Mary Oliver, from "In Blackwater Woods"

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The Importance of Hanging Out with Gay People

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

i am exhausted by my own stupid soul

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

I’ve got a new poem in the September issue of @splitlipthemag.bsky.social. It’s about the daughter my mother always wanted and the sister I dreamt of having.

IN THE FOREST OF MY OWN TEARS I SUDDENLY REMEMBER WANDA

It's the name my mother would've given her daughter if she ever had one instead of yet another son. Wanda.
I used to dream of climbing trees together & playing wizard of the forest together, though not in the forest of my tears.
This was always in the forest of my laughter. Always, despite how sad I got at times that my mother didn't get to have you.
Back then I climbed trees every day. These days I'm lost in the thickets of my phone. The other week I kept missing calls, turns out I forgot to turn off "do not disturb." Eventually I remembered, but couldn't remember how to actually do it, to say, Yes, I want to be disturbed again-by my phone, & by the world, I guess.
Then I googled it, instead of just asking Jeff (I think you would like Jeff), because I didn't want it to be a whole production again, a customer service situation, except between lovers, & I am the worst

customer & the worst lover when trying to figure out my own phone. True, I'm a bit (Jeff would say a lot) of a Luddite. Well, a Luddite who's a screen fiend, & isn't that the perfect storm, wait, is that the right proverb, is it an idiom, I think you would know, Wanda. & now I'm remembering French class, how I adored learning new idiomatic expressions— lifit's Idiomatic Expressions Time! That's what happened in my head. How often I wished, Wanda, that you were at school with me. Say, only a year above me, but wise & capable of forming really cool sentences in French, & you'd never tease me in any language, or just a little, for what went on in my head. & after school we'd race from the bus to our favorite tree, though already we were a tad old to be playing like that, we'd play, we'd climb, we'd take turns being wizard of the forest, & laugh, we'd laugh so vast. At some point in our tree, you'd tell me which boy you liked, if any. Then I'd chime in with which one, or ones I liked. & though I could guess, & now know, thanks to my best friend Sam (you'd like him too), that having sisters can be very complicated, including or especially big sisters,

back then I believed, needed to think that I could tell you every big thing. I could tell my sister, & then it was okay for a while that I couldn't tell anyone else in the family, it was alright because I had you. You, Wanda, & maybe that's sort of what she was thinking, believing, too, in her own forest early mornings or late at night, up in her own magical oak, when my mother was dreaming so hard about you.

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

an everything bagel egg sandwich really is everything

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

i have a different depression for each season

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Maureen Langloss @maureenlangloss.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Ahhhhhhhh, a new issue at last! I've missed pub days during our summer break! Everything in this new issue is 🔥🔥🔥, but I draw your attention to @chenchenwrites.bsky.social's gorgeous poem first. It gets me teary-eyed every time, as I have always wished for a sister myself.❤️

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Split Lip Magazine @splitlipthemag.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

🍂 Let's fall into the cozy season with our new SEPTEMBER ISSUE 🍂 buff.ly/JmXKHQ1 All the love to our Contributors⬇️ WORDS: Sarah Chin, Alice Markham-Cantor, Chen Chen, & Lisa K. Harris ART: Joe Karlovec PLUS: Jood AlThukair interviews leena aboutaleb

Cover art for Split Lip Magazine's September 2026 issue by Joe Karlovec featuring a section of his “Eviction Notice.” Jacquard textile, 5-part installation, 78″ x 104″, 2020.

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

In case you don't have a copy, it's always nice to support an indie publisher: boaeditions.org/book/your-em... (Audiobook with me reading this collection also available at that link)

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Jedi M @jedibyknight.com · 13/09/2026

One of my favorite books of poetry EVER 🥰🥰 So glad it exists in the world 💙📚

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Today marks 4 years of Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency. Happy bday, my unapologetically gay and *thick* second book.

I’m standing in front of a garden with some small trees & many pink flowers. I’m wearing a pale pink hat, dark blue glasses, a floral sweater, & pale pink shorts. I’m holding a copy of my second book.

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

there’s still time to sign up for my upcoming generative workshop on zoom with charlotte lit! ye olde link: charlottelit.configio.com/pd/716/origi...

ORIGIN STORIES
Poems of Self-Discovery

A Master Class with
CHEN CHEN

Tuesday, September 29 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Virtual via Zoom
Register: charlottelit.org/programming

CHARLOTTELIT

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

all i wanna do is hang out with gay people

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

obsessed with this poem by CAConrad. the empire will tax your soul! I prefer the forests making blankets from themselves!!

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I'm a poet not a motivational speaker I keep trying to tell you —CAConrad

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wee boss @weeboss.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

yes yes yes PRIORITIZE PLAY

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

more time to "just" goof off is always the goal, the treat, the gift, the treasure. i put "just" in quotes because i keep realizing that that time is so precious it's not "just" anything

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

literacy is such a beautiful word; reading comprehension, a gorgeous phrase...

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

whenever i get tired of prose (reading or writing it) it's such a delicious relief to return to poetry

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

ethnic nationalism creeps me out so much. i don't understand people's desire to cling to it like a religious commitment. a totally homogenous society is impossible and is based on a set of violent myths. it always comes down to purity tests, scapegoating, and fear of the other.

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

cannot wait to break out my cardigans

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

the way i have to sing my ABCs every single time i need to remember alphabetic order wow

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

i love being in my little home office, working on my little gay poems

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Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 25/08/2026

Dolly Parton's family asked that, in lieu of flowers, fans make a donation to the singer's Imagination Library. Here's what the charity does ⬇️ www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

rollingstone.com

Turning Pages: Inside Dolly Parton's Imagination Library

Core team of 15 staff and thousands of volunteers and partners help the country-music philanthropist deliver books to kids around the world.

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🌈Tyranny🫧Sparkles🏳️‍🌈 @tyranny.sparklenoise.com · 25/08/2026

Dolly Parton with Keith Haring in 1985, incredible woman and supporter of LGBTQ people for decades going back to a time when few others dared.

Black and white photo of Dolly Parton with gay artist Keith Haring.

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Joel @itsjoels.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

This is the letter kids got at the end of Dolly’s Imagination Library. I defy you to read this and not cry.

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

these few sentences by Linda Gregg teach me more about making poems than many entire craft essays

What matters to me even more than the shapeliness and the dance of language is what the poem discovers deeper down than gracefulness and pleasures in figures of speech. I respond most to what is found out about the heart and spirit, what we can hear through the language. Best of all, of course, is when the language and other means of poetry combine with the meaning to make us experience what we understand.

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Chen Chen @chenchenwrites.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

saw the moon & venus with dear ones during sunset in the berkshires and now i know the meaning of life: to see the moon & venus with dear ones during sunset in the berkshires.