In The Field: Conversations With Our Contributors—MICHAEL CHANG

Your poem, “Orchestra Maneuvers in the Dark,” creates an overlapping conversation and giving of information. Where did the inspiration for this poem come from?

The starting point for all of my work is vibes. I wanted a poem that felt tropical, but not in a cliched way. So I introduced opposing forces like the coats and the old fashioneds. I also wanted to bring in a political slant (Cuba, China, Global South), subtly. Other elements in the poem include bits of an interview I did with my friend Robbie Myers, who was the Editor-in-Chief of ELLE Magazine for many years.

The word “orchestral” lends itself to the layered nature of your piece. What is your revision process like within the ephemera of these phrases?

It’s strange to acknowledge this, but I’m very concerned with sound. I don’t think a lot of poets are. That’s why you see so much clunky poetry out there, particularly with poems that end on a weird note (usually a THUD!). In my own work I first get what I want to say onto the page, the bones of it.  Then I tinker with how phrases weave and flow, delete or move things around based on whether they glide. The end product has to be smooth, neat (not “with a bow” per se but close to that). The reader has to be satisfied.

You use brackets as stage directions, in a sense. Is this a common tactic you use in your writing? When did you develop this practice?

I’ve done it in maybe one or two other poems. I was writing a poem that was more overtly sexy or physical, and imagined how my favorite actors would “do the scene” although they didn’t appear in that poem at all. I landed on “[breathily]” and was pretty pleased with that.

I love the opening phrase, “doctor-patient confidentiality but totally public.” What do you look for in an opening?

I like something that grabs your attention immediately, that pulls you into the world of the poem before you realize what’s happening. The tension in that line is really cool. I love operating in contradictions.

You’ve written several poetry collections, including Boyfriend Perspective (Really Serious Literature), Almanac of Useless Talents (CLASH Books), and Synthetic Jungle (Northwestern University Press). When building a collection, what do you look for?

My latest are two named TOY SOLDIERS, a full-length and a chap, from Action, Spectacle and Abode Press respectively. Forthcoming are THINGS A BRIGHT BOY CAN DO, from Coach House, and HEROES, from Temz Review/845 Press.

In my head I always start “projects” (bad word, but good shorthand) with the cover image in mind, what a prospective cover would look like.

For example: I walked by a gallery in Tribeca right before they were closing for the day and they were doing a show on Peter Hujar’s portraits. There I saw for the first time the image that now graces the cover of my chap-length TOY SOLDIERS (Christopher Street Pier #2 (Crossed Legs)). I knew I had to have it. I thought it would be a reach but the Peter Hujar Archive was very supportive and kind. So I guess it is that kind of manic energy when I totally obsess (another bad word) over something and the poems organically extend from or build off that.

Do you find that you return to similar themes in your writing? If so, what are they?

No. I don’t think so. I guess if you wanted to talk about it at a remove, a 30,000-foot level, then sure, maybe. But you would be able to say the same about most art.  

I think my writing has a clear point of view.  It’s a natural reflection of my views (political or otherwise), how I see the world, how I move about in that space.

My work also celebrates the people I care about, my muses, their beauty, how much they mean to me.

What literary works and authors do you draw inspiration from? 

I’ve been reading a lot of translated poetry to train my brain to think differently.

What are you writing currently?

Because I’ve been reading so much non-English poetry, I’ve been writing shorter poems (what I call “smol”, poems under 14 lines, usually 10 lines or so). These days, less is more.

MICHAEL CHANG (they/them) is the author of Synthetic Jungle (Northwestern University Press, 2023), Toy Soldiers (Action, Spectacle, 2024), and Things a Bright Boy Can Do (Coach House Books, 2025). They edit poetry at Fence.