Of Thee I Sing

TIMOTHY LIU's first book of poems, Vox Angelica, received the 1992 Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America. His other three books were finalists for the Lambda Literary Award. Liu, an associate professor of English at William Patterson University, has edited Word of Mouth: An Anthology of Gay American Poetry.

Timothy Liu writes out of an angry materialism, ill-fitting body, disappointment at every turn. He takes on his point of view wholeheartedly and compresses the consequences into phrases that echo and mimic each other, thereby increasing the sensation of claustrophobia and fever. Lots of humor erupts to keep the machine going. Is will the same as desire? It didn't used to be, but now it is. His poetry is fully present to the time we are in, and takes it on as a serious failure of intention.