On today’s episode of The Poems We Made Along the Way Gregory Kearns speaks to Mary Jean Chan about clarity, truth vs fact in a poem and the drafting process as a form of play.
Mary Jean Chan is the author of Flèche (Faber & Faber, 2019), which won the Costa Book Award for Poetry. Bright Fear (Faber, 2023), Chan's second book, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Writer’s Prize. They co-edited the anthology 100 Queer Poems (Vintage, 2022) with Andrew McMillan and served as a judge for the 2023 Booker Prize. Chan is currently Departmental Lecturer in Poetry on the MSt in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford and a Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford.
Flèche: https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571348046-fleche/
Bright Fear: https://www.faber.co.uk/product/9780571378906-bright-fear/
100 Queer Poems Anthology: https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/445204/100-queer-poems-by-chan-edited-by-andrew-mcmillan-and-mary-jean/9781529115338
Credit for Mary Jean’s photo: Ray Burmiston
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