Quintessential Earthly Activities - by Chen Chen (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Ecstatic, elegiac, and erotic, the poems in Quintessential Earthly Activities form a constellation of mortal loves and contradictions. In ancient philosophy and medieval alchemy, quintessence referred to the fifth and highest element, thought to imbue all of nature and to constitute the heavenly bodies. Chen Chen's third collection of poetry considers the quintessences--the core elements--of contemporary life, not as fixed characteristics, but as ever-evolving aspects of a soul, albeit an insistently queer and creaturely one that doubts the existence of souls.

Review Quotes

"Throughout the collection, death, crisis and grief sit cheek by jowl with survival, resistance and glimpses of hard-won joy... With its exquisite blend of melancholy and exuberance, this is a life-affirming book for our troubled times." --Mary Jean Chan, The Guardian

"I revel in Chen's capaciousness, his lightning-fast modulations between silly and sober, his capacity to make poetry that is no less serious for being fun."--Craig Morgan Teicher, NPR

"Chen has an avid eye for everyday details that bridge emotional, domestic, and cultural landscapes... It's a bracingly wry meta-reflection on his story of identity--the loving particulars balanced by a dose of filial bitterness. Chen is a rarity among this new cohort of poets." --Jesse Lichtenstein, The Atlantic

"Moving between whimsy and sobriety, Chen both exhibits and defies vulnerability--an acute reminder that there are countless further possibilities." --Publisher's Weekly, starred review

About the Author

Chen Chen is the author of two previous books of poetry, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities (2017) and Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency (2022), both published by Boa Editions and by Bloodaxe Books in the UK. He has also authored a book of craft essays, and six chapbooks. His honors include the National Book Award longlist, the Thom Gunn Award, three Pushcart Prizes, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and United States Artists. Chen lives in Rochester, NY.