About the Author

John Yau was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, on June 5, 1950, shortly after his parents fled Shanghai. He received a B.A. from Bard College, where he studied with Robert Kelly, and an M.F.A. from Brooklyn College, where he studied with John Ashbery. He has taught at Emerson College, Brown University, and the University of California, Berkeley, and is currently on the faculty of the Mount Royal Graduate School of Art (Maryland Institute College of Art) and the Avery Graduate School (Bard College). He has received grants and fellowships from the NEA, NYFA (twice), and the Ingram Merrill Foundation (twice), and his awards include a General Electric Foundation Award, a Lavan Award (Academy of American Poets), and the Brendan Gill Award. His writing cuts across categories and genres. He is the author of books of poetry, fiction, and criticism, and his collaborations with artists have been exhibited in galleries and museums in both America and Europe. He and the artist Eve Aschheim and their daughter, Cerise Tzara, live in Manhattan.