Vinegar Ceremony after Mary Ruefle I bury my hatred in the graveyard I water my hatred with vinegar I fertilize my hatred with salt My hatred grows deep like a tuber I leave my hatred to dry Maybe my hatred will die My hatred still grows without water Its leaves still sprout without sun My hatred grows teeth like a shadow Its fruit is a hard metal bomb My hatred lives on through my singing Repelling hummingbirds, ladybugs, worms My hatred has grown very tall Its fingers all dangle with seeds I peek from the corner of my vision Will my hatred be forgotten if I kill it? I am afraid to pull it out by the root

Vinegar Ceremony after Mary Ruefle I bury my hatred in the graveyard I water my hatred with vinegar I fertilize my hatred with salt My hatred grows deep like a tuber I leave my hatred to dry Maybe my hatred will die My hatred still grows without water Its leaves still sprout without sun My hatred grows teeth like a shadow Its fruit is a hard metal bomb My hatred lives on through my singing Repelling hummingbirds, ladybugs, worms My hatred has grown very tall Its fingers all dangle with seeds I peek from the corner of my vision Will my hatred be forgotten if I kill it? I am afraid to pull it out by the root

About Cleo Qian Cleo Qian is a writer from southern California. Her work has been published in The Guardian, Shenandoah, Pleiades, AAWW's The Margins and elsewhere. Her first book, LET'S GO LET'S GO LET'S GO, is forthcoming from TIn House in 2023.

"My hatred lives on through my singing

Repelling hummingbirds, ladybugs, worms

My hatred has grown very tall

Its fingers all dangle with seeds"

“Vinegar Ceremony” by Cleo Qian (@cleoqian.bsky.social) from @honeyliterary.bsky.social

www.honeyliterary.com/issue-5-/poe...

Teaching at Tin House this summer!

wonder if there's a relationship between avant-garde aesthetics and radical politics. Why are all the most radical/visionary artists I know also the most leftist in their politics?

Love to be in this one!

💐Congratulations @cleoqian.bsky.social !

Longlisted for the 🏆2024 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction!

www.ala.org/rusa/awards/...

Support for Mino Diaz Family, organized by Natalie Diaz My parents never thought they would have to lay their son, my brother, down into the earth.… Natalie Diaz needs your support for Support for Mino Diaz Family

The poet Natalie Diaz lost her brother Mino to a car accident this last Monday and is fundraising to help his family. Please give if you can. gofund.me/d42e8c18

Cleo Qian on the Differences Between Writing Poetry and Fiction Welcome to I’m a Writer But, where writers discuss their work, their lives, their other work, the stuff that takes up any free time they have, all the stuff they’re not able to get to, …

I talked on the I'm A Writer But podcast (episode here):

lithub.com/cleo-qian-on...

9 Books about Women's Loneliness - Electric Literature Cleo Qian, author of "Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go," recommends stories about the search for connection

"As I wandered my own landscapes of alienation, loneliness & fear, the books I turned to showed me other girls who walked similar paths. Briefly, while reading them, I did feel less alone."

⚡ LET'S GO LET'S GO LET'S GO's @cleoqian.bsky.social at Electric Lit

electricliterature.com/9-books-abou...

Two new poems in wildness! "Meditations on the Discovery of Green" and "Kitchen Study of Early Adulthood"

readwildness.com/31/

Two Takes on LET’S GO LET’S GO LET’S GO, stories by Cleo Qian: Lillian Lowenthal and Audrey La... One New Book, Two ReviewsLET’S GO LET’S GO LET’S GOby Cleo QianTin House Books, 246 pages Cleaver’s internship program offers the opportunity to review a new book from a small or indie press u...

Love these two smart takes from Cleaver Magazine on LET'S GO! Love being read by Asian girlies!

www.cleavermagazine.com/two-takes-on...

The Embrace of the Literary Speculative Space in “Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go” Our review of Cleo Qian’s debut story collection, “Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go.”

Thank you Chicago Review of Books for this thoughtful review of LET'S GO LET'S GO LET'S GO!

chireviewofbooks.com/2023/08/21/lets-go-lets-...

Cleo Qian There's so many queer Asian women, like so many. But you don’t see much of that in literature. But I think that more and more of us are writing and publishing now. It’s a game changer and it's jus...

I interviewed @cleoqian.bsky.social for Full Stop about her debut short story collection Let’s Go Let’s Go Let’s Go (Tin House). www.full-stop.net/2023/08/15/interviews/di...