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Chanlee Luu
Chanlee Luu is a writer from Southern Virginia. She received her MFA in creative writing from Hollins University and her BS in chemical engineering from UVA. She won the 2024 Jean Feldman Poetry Award from the Washington Writers’ Publishing House, which published her debut collection, The Machine Autocorrects Code to I. One of her poems […]continue reading…
From where did you draw inspiration for the title of your collection, The Machine Autocorrects Code to I?
The title comes from my Taylor Swift Golden Shovel about the process of healing, which we tend to think of as an individual process, but is actually communal. The title is open to multiple interpretations, but for me, the breakdown is: “The Machine” is late-stage American capitalism or any institution that oppresses its people; “Autocorrects” means we’re forced to go against our human nature; “I” refers to individualism. A colleague read the “I” as “one” and that works too! Overall, the book is about fighting these forces.
What was the challenge in marrying your STEM background and passion for writing and music in the pursuit of this poetry collection?
I think it was a very natural process, incorporating my multiple interests and backgrounds, which is the great thing about poetry— you’re able to seamlessly create connections between seemingly unrelated things. I think the biggest challenge was the murky area between scientific accuracy and creative liberties. For example, is coffee in our veins? No, but it is a common exaggeration for a person who drinks a lot of coffee.
What is your writing process/daily writing practice?
I don’t really have a daily writing practice right now with a full-time job and going to school, but when inspiration hits, I’ll write! I’ll usually use the structure of a form (or Excel!) to help me. I think rhyme gets a bad rap in contemporary poetry, but as Ange Mlinko says, “I let the rhyme have its way with me, because a more interesting stanza will come about that way, one I could never have planned with my rational brain. I believe in pattern, if nothing else, as an antidote to garrulousness.” I don’t write in rhyme as much as I used to, but I still think the constraints of a form force me to be more creative.
What was your favorite book as a child?
I loved Nate the Great books; I wanted to be a detective and solve mysteries and eat potato pancakes. My mom tried her best to find me a long coat that looked like his so I could dress up as him for school, and I did eventually use my detective skills to solve the case of “The Missing Homework.” No, a dog did not eat it; a classmate had erased my name and put his over it!
What literary figure, dead or alive, would you want to share a meal with?
How are we defining literary figures? There are 2 obvious answers. One is Taylor Swift, who I have been a huge fan of since 2006, and I would ask her how she Masterminds all the Easter Eggs. The other would be Ocean Vuong, who inspired me to pursue poetry further than just as a hobby. If we expand it to anyone who has ever written, I would pick my paternal grandparents, my Ông Bà Nội. I met my Bà Nội once when I went to Vietnam in the 2nd grade, and she was so full of humor and joy; I never got to meet my Ông Nội. When people tell me fond stories of their grandparents, I think “that must be nice.” So yeah, I’d like to cook with them, learn their recipes, and eat/laugh with them.
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Featured WWPH Publication The Machine Autocorrects Code to I
In an experiment of forms, this universe of poems wanders thruogh the messy past, battles in the charged present, and dreams/nightmares to the unknown future. This collection intertwines racial/cultural identity with gender, politics, and the environment, while also traversing time and place.continue reading…
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