Jane Yeh talks to Sarah Howe

The prize-wining American poet Jane Yeh, author of Marabou and The Ninjas (both Carcanet) talks to Sarah Howe, co-editor of the winter issue of The Poetry Review. They discuss Yeh’s use of dramatic monologue and the often fantastical personas she adopts (ninjas, rabbits, androids) to hilarious effect. “I think of Oscar Wilde’s phrase, ‘the truth of masks’ – how when you wear a mask it reveals your identity in a way,” Yeh explains. They also discuss contemporary art, installations and film and influences such as Amy Woolard, Stephen Burt, Lucie Brock-Broido and the work of fellow-writers Safiya Sinclair, Ocean Vuong and Timothy Donnelly. Yeh reads her poems ‘Rabbit Empire’ and ‘A Short History of Patience’, first published in The Poetry Review. To connect with more poetry, visit poetrysociety.org.uk