A review by kdawn999
Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency by Chen Chen

4.0

This is a strong collection of poems that also stand solidly on their own. The richness of collecting these poems is that narrative threads add up to characterize the poet/speaker, his parents, and his partner. In this way, I really feel that I get to know the voice here. The poems are serious and playful, often clever. I enjoy the lines about west Texas and the joyful expression of queerness. There are poems about college campus life, cats, and (tenderly) poop. I like the threads of artistic defiance that rise up to challenge the thoughtless words of white professors and classmates who mistakenly view poetry has having to follow certain rules to be legitimate. There is good rule-breaking here.