Holiday Wishlist 2013: Poetry Editor Shelley Wong

1. Reading Darcie Dennigan’s Madame X and Ange Mlinko’s Marvelous Things Overheard. I’m ecstatic to feature both poets in The Journal’s winter issue. I also want to read Tung-Hui Hu’s Greenhouses, Lighthouses. I highly recommend Henry Leung’s sparkling interview with Hu for the Asian American Writers’ Workshop magazine The Margins (http://aaww.org/an-interview-with-tung-hui-hu/) where Hu discusses the palinode, the forbidden fruit kepel, and how it’s OK to be a poet who has a bad relationship with poetry.

2. Experiencing the visual and sonic power of Beyoncé’s new album. Really, no superlative will do. Favorite tracks: “Ghost”/“Haunted,” “***Flawless,” “No Angel,” “Yoncé/Partition,” “Blue.”

3. Anticipating the new Sherlock season. Witnessing the unpredictable drama that is the Downton Abbey Christmas special. Catching up on NBA basketball. As a SoCal native currently living in Ohio, I have divided loyalties for the Christmas game of Lakers vs. Heat. I always represent the West, and even though LeBron’s widely hated in Ohio, I still have some Ohio love for him, and it is so beautiful when Ray Allen hits the three.

4. Cruising through SoCal for the following:

Yoshinoya beef bowl
In-N-Out burger
Don Ruben’s super nachos with carnitas, Hawaiian Gardens
Fish Company clam chowder, Los Alamitos
Elite Restaurant dim sum, Monterey Park
Simone’s strawberry crueller donut, Long Beach
The Pacific Ocean

Shelley Wong is a Kundiman fellow, an MFA candidate at The Ohio State University, and a poetry editor at The Journal. Her poetry appears or is forthcoming in Lantern Review, Kartika Review, Linebreak, Eleven Eleven, and Flyway.