130,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿 

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities

4.25 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating.
( 4,376 ratings, 735 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities is a ferocious and tender poetry debut by Chen Chen that explores the complexities of love, family, and identity from Asian American, immigrant, and queer perspectives. The collection delves into strained mother-son relationships, the cost of farewells, and the journey of charting one's own path, fully embracing loss, grief, and joy.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$3499
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 4-6 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This collection will resonate strongly with readers interested in contemporary poetry, Asian American and queer experiences, and explorations of identity, family, and belonging.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

This award-winning debut interrogates the fragile, inherited ways of approaching love and family from Asian American, immigrant, and queer perspectives.

Galleys available: national mailing to key review/media outlets 4-5 months prior to publication. National advertising: Poets & Writers, American Poets, the Academy of American Poets newsletter, Rain Taxi, and Redactions. National print campaign: 100+ finished books will be mailed to key review outlets, specifically targeting Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, The LA Times, Poets & Writers Magazine, The Rumpus, Huffington Post Poetry, Bookforum, LA Review of Books, PBS Newshour, NPR, etc. Outreach to blogs and online outlets for category features, including Buzzfeed, Bustle, etc. for such themes as LGBT (Pride Month), Asian American poets, etc. Buy-ins to relevant academic conferences, trade shows, and publications: American Library Association Annual Meeting, CBSD Sales and Academic catalogs, etc. Spring announcements will be submitted to Publishers Weekly. Online/social media campaign: Extensive promotion through BOA's website and blog; Facebook (6,500+ contacts), Twitter (6,100 followers), Instagram (1,500+ followers), and Pinterest (550+ followers) accounts; print and e-postcards; print and e-materials; and print and e-catalogs. Electronic postcards to announce book publication will be sent to Chen's academic contacts, bookstore contacts, and literary bloggers. Electronic newsletter feature will be emailed to BOA's database of 6,500+ contacts. Ebook will be available at the same time as print publication to maximize sales. Ebook ISBN will be included on all press materials, author and publisher websites, and whenever print ISBN is listed. Publisher and author will be promoting both e and p through social media. Author will attend the AWP Conference 2017 in Washington, DC, where he will have an author signing. Chen also regularly attends the Dodge Poetry Festival, the Massachusetts Poetry Festival, and the Round Top Poetry Festival in Texas. Plans for a multi-city book tour, including such places as Charleston, SC, and in Texas and the Northeast. Chen has strong personal and professional contacts in such places as Amherst, MA, Newton, MA, Syracuse, NY, and Lubbock, TX, where he will likely set up readings and author events. He is particularly well known at LHUCA, an art gallery in Lubbock, TX, which has a reading series; Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX; Barnes & Noble in Lubbock, TX; Newtonville Books in Newton, MA; Trident Bookstore in Boston, MA; and Amherst Books in Amherst, MA. Possible joint readings and events with Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press), Bruce Smith (University of Chicago Press), William Wenthe (LSU Press), Aracelis Girmay (BOA Editions), Sarah Gambito (Persea Books), Craig Morgan Teicher (BOA Editions), Joseph O. Legaspi (Cavankerry Press), David Tomas Martinez (Sarabande), Solmaz Sharif (Copper Canyon Press), Hieu Minh Nguyen (Coffee House Press), and Kaveh Akbar (Alice James Books). Blurbs and endorsements from Jericho Brown and other acclaimed poets. Promotion through the author's social media platforms and website: www.chenchenwrites.com.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

In this ferocious and tender debut, Chen Chen investigates inherited forms of love and family—the strained relationship between a mother and son, the cost of necessary goodbyes—all from Asian American, immigrant, and queer perspectives. Holding all accountable, this collection fully embraces the loss, grief, and abundant joy that come with charting one's own path in identity, life, and love.

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities

To be a season of laughter
when my father says
his coworker is like that, he can tell
because the guy wears pink
socks, see, you don't, so you
can't, you can't be
one of them.

To be the one
my parents raised me
to be. A season
from the stormiest planet.
A very good feeling
with a man.
Every feeling,

in pink shoes.
Every step, hot pink.

Chen Chen: was born in Xiamen, China, and grew up in Massachusetts. His work has appeared in two chapbooks and in such publications as Poetry, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, Best of the Net, and The Best American Poetry. The recipient of the 2016 A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize, he has been awarded fellowships from Kundiman, the Saltonstall Foundation, Lambda Literary, and in 2015, he was a finalist for the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships. He earned his BA at Hampshire College and his MFA at Syracuse University. He lives in Lubbock, Texas, where he is pursuing a PhD at Texas Tech University.

Series: A. Poulin, Jr. New Poets of America

View all
  • Elegy with a Glass of Whiskey
    In this robust collection, Crystal Bacon explores vision and the nature of myth-making, from cultural archetypes, such as Persephone and Narcissus, to Anne Frank and Chet Baker, to the personal myths that shape individual lives. Additionally, these poems, written from Bacon's perspective and adopted personas, examine the timeless themes of birth and death, love and loss, maleness and femaleness. As...
    Paperback
    $3499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities
    In this ferocious and tender debut, Chen Chen investigates inherited forms of love and family—the strained relationship between a mother and son, the cost of necessary goodbyes—all from Asian American, immigrant, and queer perspectives. Holding all accountable, this collection fully embraces the loss, grief, and abundant joy that come with charting one's own path in identity, life, and love. When...
    Paperback
    $3499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Winner of the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize and featured on NPR Books's list of 'Poetry to Pay Attention To: 2017's Best Verse,' Chen Chen's collection is hailed as a wild, deeply serious, and moving exploration of Chinese-American experience, young love, and familial bonds. NPR Books praises its free-associative style that blends playful language with profound themes, making it a standout debut.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781942683339

Publisher: BOA Editions, Limited

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 27 April 2017

Country: United States

Imprint: BOA Editions, Limited

Edition: Unabridged edition

Illustration: Illustrations

Contributors:

  • Foreword by Jericho Brown

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 228.0mm

Weight: 184g

Pages: 96

About the Author

Chen Chen was born in Xiamen, China, and grew up in Massachusetts. His work has appeared in two chapbooks and in such publications as Poetry, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, Best of the Net, and The Best American Poetry. The recipient of the 2016 A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize, he has been awarded fellowships from Kundiman, the Saltonstall Foundation, Lambda Literary, and in 2015, he was a finalist for the Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships. He earned his BA at Hampshire College and his MFA at Syracuse University. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in English and Creative Writing at Texas Tech University. Chen lives in Lubbock, Texas, with his partner, Jeff Gilbert, and their pug dog, Rupert Giles.

Jericho Brown is the recipient of the Whiting Writers Award and fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and the National Endowment for the Arts. His first book, Please (New Issues, 2008), won the American Book Award, and his second book, The New Testament (Copper Canyon, 2014), was named one of the best poetry books of the year by Library Journal. His poems have appeared in The Nation, The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The Best American Poetry. Brown earned a PhD from the University of Houston, an MFA from the University of New Orleans, and a BA from Dillard University. He is an assistant professor in the creative writing program at Emory University in Atlanta.

Also by Chen Chen

View all
  • Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency
    What happens when everything falls away, when those you call on in times of need are themselves calling out for rescue? In his highly anticipated second collection, Chen Chen continues his investigation of family, both blood and chosen, examining what one inherits and what one invents, as a queer Asian American living through an era of Trump, mass shootings, and...
    Paperback
    $3499
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities
    In this ferocious and tender debut, Chen Chen investigates inherited forms of love and family—the strained relationship between a mother and son, the cost of necessary goodbyes—all from Asian American, immigrant, and queer perspectives. Holding all accountable, this refreshingly candid and entertainingly provocative collection fully embraces the loss, grief, and abundant joy that come with charting one's own path in...
    Paperback
    $3999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks

More from Arts & Culture

View all
  • Dylan's Pick
    Bold Types
    A tribute to 32 truly independent bookshops throughout Aotearoa New Zealand, from north of Auckland down to Dunedin, and coast to coast. Jane Ussher's photographs show every bookstore in its unique nature - including behind the counter, smoko rooms, the mess which tells the hardworking story behind the joy of matching books with customers. Jemma Moreira's careful editing has crafted...
    Hardback
    $5999
    Elsewhere:
    $7000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    I’ll Believe in Anything
    From Jacob Tierney, the creator of Heated Rivalry, in partnership with Brendan Brady and Accent Aigu, comes I’ll Believe in Anything, an official and complete collection of annotated scripts for the biggest cultural sensation of the year, with all new exclusive behind-the-scenes content.Based on Rachel Reid’s blockbuster Game Changers book series, Heated Rivalry premiered on Crave and HBO in late 2025 and immediately took the world by storm. I’ll...
    Hardback
    $5499
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    16% off
    New Release
    Home Again
    Join rock-legend, former Shihad frontman and lead singer of The Adults, Jon Toogood in this unflinching and no-holds-barred memoir Home Again.This is more than a rock story. Toogood looks back on a 37-year career that helped define New Zealand rock music, and the personal cost that came with it. From a music-obsessed childhood in Wellington to the deafening roar of international stages, this...
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    20% off
    The Odyssey
    Composed at the rosy-fingered dawn of world literature almost three millennia ago, The Odyssey is a poem about violence and the aftermath of war; about wealth, poverty and power; about marriage and family; about travellers, hospitality, and the yearning for home. This fresh, authoritative translation captures the beauty of this ancient poem as well as the drama of its narrative....
    By Homer
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $3599
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    21% off
    The Iliad
    When Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey appeared in 2017—revealing the ancient poem in a contemporary idiom that was "fresh, unpretentious and lean" (Madeline Miller, Washington Post)—critics lauded it as "a revelation" (Susan Chira, New York Times) and "a cultural landmark" (Charlotte Higgins, Guardian) that would forever change how Homer is read in English. Now Wilson has returned with an...
    By Homer
    Paperback
    $2600
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Disney Moana: The Official Cookbook
    Embark on a culinary adventure with Moana of Motunui with Pacific recipes inspired by Moana and Moana 2! After a long day of sailing to see how far you’ll go or keeping the demigod Maui out of trouble with Te Fiti, catch a break with the delicious dishes in Moana: The Official Cookbook! Featuring more than 50 recipes spanning the...
    Hardback
    $4499
    Elsewhere:
    $5299
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    A Life in Lyrics
    Freddie Mercury was one of the greatest showmen of the twentieth century. With his unparalleled voice and searing on-stage energy, he was a great pretender, a killer queen and a champion of the world. But behind the glamour lived a musician and lyricist talented beyond measure, and the creative force behind one of the most culturally significant and musically diverse...
    Hardback
    $5000
    Elsewhere:
    $6500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Birdlands Birdlands
    New Release
    Birdlands
    A rare, intimate journey into the wild islands where Aotearoa's birds live beyond the reach of most human lives. In the most remote outposts of Aotearoa, our islands are populated not with people, but with birds. From the storm-lashed Subantarctic Islands in the deep south to the scattered volcanic islands of Tikapa Moana/Hauraki Gulf in the north, Birdlands offers a...
    Hardback
    $4199
    Elsewhere:
    $5000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • On Sale
    21% off
    This Angry Pen of Mine
    This Angry Pen of Mine by Layne Staley invites you to dive into the untold creative world of Layne Staley, the legendary voice behind Alice in Chains. This extraordinary collection showcases his handwritten lyrics, deeply personal poetry, stunning original artwork, rare photos, fan tributes, and so much more. Step into the world of Layne Staley like never before. For the...
    Hardback
    $5800
    Elsewhere:
    $8999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Beautiful Chaos
    New Release
    Beautiful Chaos
    Featuring five exclusive new poems, this stunning foil-embossed hardback edition is a collector's item and a gorgeous gift. The Instant Sunday Times Bestseller. Selected poems on motherhood from bestselling author and Instagram poet, Jessica Urlichs. 'Reading Jess's poems makes me feel like she's somehow reached into my own personal reflections and articulated them in a way I never could.' –...
    Hardback
    $3299
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Split Enz
    New Release
    Split Enz
    'My favourite band. Ever! And certainly the best dressed.' Sam Neill Split Enz were never designed to fit. Emerging from art school mischief in early-1970s New Zealand, they turned pop into surreal theatre: costume, character and melody colliding in a rock band that refused to behave like one. At the centre of that vision was Noel Crombie—percussionist, performer and the...
    Hardback
    $5199
    Elsewhere:
    $6500
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Mah Jong Player's Companion
    Since the arrival on the market of Patricia Thompson and Betty Maloney's two previous books, The Game of Mah Jong Illustrated and Improve Your Mah Jong, a wide range of hands from many parts of the world has been sent to them. In this player's companion, the authors have put together a cross-filled reference guide where over 120 hands, illustrated...
    Paperback
    $1999
    Elsewhere:
    $2299
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.