Victoria Chang has garnered acclaim with her collection Obit and her nonfiction exploration Dear Memory. Her new collection of poetry, With My Back to the World, is inspired by the work of Agnes Martin, exploring topics of feminism, art, depression, and grief with Chang’s signature taut language and brilliant imagery.
With My Back to the World engages with the paintings and writings of Agnes Martin, the celebrated abstract artist, in ways that open up new modes of expression, expanding the scope of what art, poetry, and the human mind can do. Filled with surprise and insight, wit and profundity, the book explores the nature of the self, of existence, life and death, grief and depression, time and space. Strikingly original, fluidly strange, Victoria Chang’s new collection is a book that speaks to how we see and are seen.
Victoria Chang was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Taiwanese immigrants. She was educated at the University of Michigan, Harvard University, and Stanford Business School and holds an MFA in poetry from Warren Wilson. She is the author of six books of poetry, including Obit, which was named one of the New York Times‘ 100 Notable Books of 2020 and one of Time‘s 100 Must-Read Books of 2020. She lives in Southern California with her family and serves as the program chair of Antioch’s Low-Residency MFA Program.
