Gotham Book Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 43 (2025) Nominee
Muriel Leung
マリエル・リーング
Muriel Leung
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English, Cantonese
- Residence History
- Richmond Hill, Queens, New York (grew up) → Los Angeles (residence)
Career
- Occupations
- poet, novelist, writer
- Active Years
- 2010-
- Affiliations
- Apogee Journal (co-editor), Bettering American Poetry (contributing editor), New Delta Review (Assistant Editor)
- Nominations
- Poem nominated for a Pushcart Prize by Fairy Tale Review
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sarah Lawrence College | — | — | Undergraduate degree | — | United States |
| Louisiana State University (MFA) | Creative Writing (MFA) | Creative Writing | MFA | — | United States |
| University of Southern California (PhD student) | PhD in Creative Writing & Literature | Creative Writing | — | 在学（博士課程） | United States |
Sarah Lawrence College
Degree:
Undergraduate degree
Country:
United States
Completed undergraduate degree
Louisiana State University (MFA)
Creative Writing (MFA)
/ Creative Writing
Degree:
MFA
Country:
United States
Completed poetry collection while in the MFA program
University of Southern California (PhD student)
PhD in Creative Writing & Literature
/ Creative Writing
Period:
在学（博士課程）
Country:
United States
Enrolled as a doctoral student (ongoing)
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Noemi Press Book Award (Poetry) | Bone Confetti | — | Noemi Press | Winner |
| 2020 | Nightboat's Poetry Prize | Imagine Us, the Swarm | — | Nightboat Books | Winner |
| 2025 | Lambda Literary Award (Bisexual Nonfiction) | How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster: A Novel | Bisexual Nonfiction | Lambda Literary | Winner |
| — | Kundiman Fellowship | — | — | Kundiman | Fellowship |
| — | Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation Fellowship | — | — | Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation | Fellowship |
Noemi Press Book Award (Poetry)
2015
Work:
Bone Confetti
Organization:
Noemi Press
Result:
Winner
Nightboat's Poetry Prize
2020
Work:
Imagine Us, the Swarm
Organization:
Nightboat Books
Result:
Winner
Lambda Literary Award (Bisexual Nonfiction)
2025
Work:
How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster: A Novel
Category:
Bisexual Nonfiction
Organization:
Lambda Literary
Result:
Winner
Kundiman Fellowship
Organization:
Kundiman
Result:
Fellowship
Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation Fellowship
Organization:
Voices of Our Nation Arts Foundation
Result:
Fellowship
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Bone Confetti
2016 PoetryA poetry collection that contemplates grief, loss, trauma, and queerness. The book addresses the death of the author's father from pancreatic cancer and plays with the Orpheus and Eurydice myth; it is divided into four sections.
grieflosstraumaqueernessmythic motifs
Imagine Us, the Swarm
2021 Poetry / ExperimentalA collection offering multiple powerful texts that confront loneliness, silence, and death across varied poetic shapes and typography; described as lyric informed by theory, autobiography, and essay.
lonelinesssilencedeathidentity
How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster: A Novel
2024 NovelA novel about community forged during crisis and connections in difficult times. Published in 2024; received the 2025 Lambda Literary Award in Bisexual Nonfiction.
communitycrisislove and connectiongender and sexuality
Bibliography
- Bone Confetti (Noemi Press, 2016)
- Imagine Us, the Swarm (Nightboat Books, 2021)
- How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster: A Novel (W. W. Norton & Company, 2024)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- experimentalfragmentary / visual elements in poetrylyric informed by theory and autobiography
- Recurring Motifs
- grief and lossimages of deathOrpheus mythidentity and immigrant voicesqueerness
Legacy
A noted contemporary American writer whose work linking personal grief and political dimensions has garnered attention; influential within contemporary poetry and queer/Asian American literary contexts.
Quotes
-
“The poems can be grisly, gothic, and obsessed, not to mention quirky and disturbing. As much as you may suspect that Leung is possessed, you also feel that she is in control of every word she places on the page.”
Source: Hyperallergic (review) (2016)
Trivia
- First language is Cantonese; learned English in elementary school.
- Co-host of the Blood-Jet Writing Hour poetry podcast.
- Identifies as an "Asian American poet."