A knock-out debut that erases the boundaries of time and geography with unrestrained wit, The Machine Autocorrects Code to I holds its subjects – family members at odds with their hopes and fears, various fruits and animals constrained by the laws of humans, and an alien seeking beauty in the world – with tenderness and wry knowledge of the fragile systems that hold their world in place. This universe of poems wanders through the messy past, battles in the charged present, and dreams/nightmares to the unknown future. In this experiment in forms, Chanlee Luu is a mad scientist, cracking Asian jokes, shoveling golden sand, and coding her voice to vitality.

This collection takes us on a poetic journey that intertwines racial/cultural identity with gender, politics, and the environment while also traversing time and place. This is a voice that curves, twists, and spirals around language to create new meaning. As readers, we are challenged to enter these innovative poetic forms and engage with the multiple stories being told through poems that speak to one another. With this book, Chanlee Luu has created a new landscape for poetry. -Pauline Kaldas, author of The Measure of Distance.

Luu shows herself to be a poet of dazzling ambition and range. This vibrant collection traverses the psychospiritual terrain of the many facets that constitute “I.” A Whitmaniac study of the multitudes of being that venerates spirituality, origins, and political outrage with the same care as is given to pancakes, puzzles, and pop stars. Luu puts the blank spaces into words; you won’t be able to shake off this book anytime soon. – Candice Wuehle, author of Monarch.

About Chanlee Luu