Yanyi

22 Feb 2024 • 5 min read

‘How Do You Begin Again?’

It's not how you begin, but how you continue.

11 Jun 2023 • 1 min read

Seattle, Dickinson, writings—

4 May 2023 • 4 min read

‘How Do I Give Myself a Residency?’

It's about coming home to your art.

17 Apr 2023 • 2 min read

‘How Did You Decide to Return to Your Day Job?’

How did you decide to return to software engineering and how has that shaped your days and wellbeing? I feel like I have unfortunately over-invested in the idea of ‘being a writer’ as ‘your primary day job is adjacent to writing.’

6 Mar 2023 • 1 min read

‘When Will The Reading Return?’

Dear reader, This may be the first time you’re hearing from me—or maybe you’ve been following my work for a while. Either way, I’m Yanyi. I’m a poet, critic, and a lifelong lover of literature (and alliteration, clearly). At some point in time, you subscribed

17 Jul 2022 • 3 min read

‘You Are More Than Your Writing.’

On July 31, 2022, The Reading will go on a long hiatus.

3 Jul 2022 • 7 min read

‘I’m So, So Tired of Having to Justify My Writing.’

Is it really terrible to be wrong?

3 Jul 2022 • 2 min read

On knowledge as a trapping net

What to do with the knowing we have—what we want from what we know.

19 Jun 2022 • 6 min read

‘Can I Still Write My Memoir If It Exhausts Me?’

This book is a ghost of memoirs past.

5 Jun 2022 • 8 min read

‘How Do I Find Joy in Big Writing Projects?’

You're juggling two minds, but you only need one.

5 Jun 2022 • 2 min read

Writing strategies for perfectionism

Writing against the (Platonic) form.

15 May 2022 • 6 min read

‘Lately, All My Stories Fall Short.’

It’s time to look at everything everywhere all at once.

1 May 2022 • 9 min read

‘What Are Friendships to a Writer’s Life?’

Few and far between. But that's not a bad thing.

1 May 2022 • 2 min read

Writing friendships and saying yes

My best writing friends have come out of situations when I’ve just said yes.

26 Apr 2022 • 2 min read

Foundations of Asian American Studies with Ida Yalzadeh

This is for all the Asian & Asian American identifying folks who want to think more about the history of their communities in the United States.