Wendy Chen is the author of the novel THEIR DIVINE FIRES (Algonquin Books, 2024) and the poetry collection UNEARTHINGS (Tavern Books, 2018). Her translations of Song-dynasty woman writer Li Qingzhao are forthcoming from Farrar, Straus & Giroux on 2/25/2025 in a collection titled THE MAGPIE AT NIGHT.

 

Chen is the recipient of prizes and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, MacDowell, & elsewhere. Her writing has appeared widely in prestigious venues such as Freeman's, A Public Space, & Lit Hub. Her work has been translated into multiple languages and adapted into musical compositions. She has taught and spoken at colleges, universities, and arts organizations such as the Academy of American Poets, Poets & Writers, Poetry Foundation, & Yale University. 

 

She is the Editor of Figure 1, Prose Editor of Tupelo Press, and Associate Editor-in-Chief of Tupelo Quarterly. Previously, she was the poetry and translation editor of Denver Quarterly. She earned her MFA in poetry from Syracuse University and her PhD in English from the University of Denver. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.