“We did not observe any Gods,” writes Molly Zhu in her stunning debut, and yet a sense of the holy, of worship, of family as salve and safe return, as steady place, is the pillar of this profoundly moving book of poems. These coming of age poems peel back the layers of those miraculous and pained years in which our families begin to become real to us, to take shape in our hearts and to leave their legacy for us to create our lives differently, yet anchored, to the stories of who we together were.

—James Diaz, Editor in Chief, Anti-Heroin Chic

Molly Zhu's stunning chapbook debut is a deep and tender meditation on the delicate act of growing up and how time, distance, and differences in culture can create chasms in meaning and understanding. Zhu asks what gets lost in translation, not merely from one language to another, but from generation to generation. Deeply insightful, painstakingly rendered, and shimmering with vulnerability and candor, Asian American Translations is a beautiful debut collection that gives more with each read.

—Chelsea Fanning, Poetry Editor, Fatal Flaw Literary Magazine

Winner of the 2021 Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize

6” x 9”, 44 pages, perfect bound

printed in Canada on FSC-certified paper with soy-based inks