Poetry Path: Li-Young Lee

Li-Young Lee was born in 1957 in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Chinese political exiles, his father having been the personal physician to Mao Zedong. He moved to the United States in 1964, where he would become a professor and poet, publishing five volumes of poetry. His most recent collection is The Undressing (W. W. Norton, 2018). His accolades include three Pushcart Prizes and a fellowship from the Academy of American Poets.

Li-Young Lee, excerpt from “Praise Them” from Book of My Nights. Copyright © 2001 by Li-Young Lee. Used with the permission of The Permissions Company, LLC on behalf of BOA Editions, Ltd., www.boaeditions.org.

The Poetry Path is made possible through a partnership with Battery Park City Authority, partners in design and fabrication of the Poetry Path, with additional support from our Outreach Partner, Goldman Sachs. Special thanks to the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation for funding the Poetry Path planning process, and to the Marcia Brady Tucker Foundation for supporting Poetry Path educational initiatives for youth and children.