FROM: Brooklyn Poets

Chiwan Choi is a poet, writer, publisher and lifelong seer of ghosts. He is the author of four full-length books of poetry: The Flood (Tia Chucha Press, 2010) and the Daughter Trilogy, three books that explore his lost daughter as ghost: Abductions (Writ Large Press, 2012), The Yellow House (CCM, 2017) and the forthcoming my name is wolf (summer 2021).

He is also the author of multiple poetry chapbooks, including Time Out of Space and lo/fidelity lovesongs. He wrote, presented and destroyed the novel Ghostmaker throughout the course of 2015, as part of his ongoing examination on the meaning of a book, of conjuring and nurturing of ghosts. Choi has published his poetry, fiction and essays in numerous journals and magazines, including the New York Times Magazine, ONTHEBUS, Poem-A-Day and many other publications. He currently splits his time between Los Angeles and Pittsburgh with his wife. On Sunday, July 18, Choi will read for the Brooklyn Poets Reading Series at Basik in Williamsburg along with Desiree C. Bailey and Cheryl Boyce-Taylor.

Tell us about the making of this poem.

Well, these are three pieces from my name is wolf, my new book available in July. It’s the third and final book of my Daughter Trilogy, after Abductions and The Yellow House. The starting point, the impetus, for my name is wolf is multiple. One place is—I was thinking about wolves as I often do, and thinking about what was done to them by colonizers, and that one day I wondered if the wolves believed, knew, they would be wiped off the face of the earth, made extinct, and if they did (which I believe to be true), would they do anything to change, become something other than what they are to try and save themselves? That question made think of the narrative of the book: a wolf enters a winter forest to die, only to be confronted by a voice that promises to teach him all the names of the things that matter in life, ultimately including his own name. He still dies, but with knowledge of what he has been. The other spark was the amazing paintings of Melora Walters. She made me both T-shirts and a hoodie with hand-painted wolves over the years. And it became part of me and always inspired me.

This particular set of three was selected because I thought it made a nice arc about the circle that fuels my life and my fears: the circle of love and fear and loss and release.

What are you working on right now?

Currently working on finishing my book my name is wolf, which I’m set to release by the end of July. It will be free in both digital and audio formats. It will also be as free of copyright as possible, so anyone can do whatever they want with it as long as it’s attributed. Publishers are free to publish physical versions of it if they want, as they would, say, Jane Eyre or something, with no need to sign me or pay me.

Also working on a paranormal podcast called Are You There, Ghost? It’s Me, Chiwan, where I interview writers I love and respect about their paranormal experiences. Read Rest of Interview Here