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Breaking the Alabaster Jar: Conversations with Li-Young Lee
In the foreword to Li-Young Lee’s first book, Rose (BOA Editions, 1986), Gerald Stern wrote, “What characterizes Li-Young Lee’s poetry is a certain kind of humility, a kind of cunning, a love of plain speech, a search for wisdom and understanding. . . . I think we are in the presence of a true spirit.” Poetry lovers agree! Rose has gone on to sell more than eighty thousand copies, and Li-Young Lee has become one of the country’s most beloved poets.
Breaking the Alabaster Conversations with Li-Young Lee is a collection of the best dozen interviews given by Li-Young Lee over the past twenty years. From a twenty-nine-year-old poet prodigy to a seasoned veteran in high demand for readings and appearances across the United States and abroad, these interviews capture Li-Young Lee at various stages of his artistic development. He not only discusses his family’s flight from political oppression in China and Indonesia, but how that journey affected his poetry and the engaging, often painful, insights being raised a cultural outsider in America afforded him. Other topics include spirituality (primarily Christianity and Buddhism) and a wide range of aesthetic topics such as literary influences, his own writing practices, the role of formal and informal education in becoming a writer, and his current life as a famous and highly sought-after American poet.
Breaking the Alabaster Conversations with Li-Young Lee is a collection of the best dozen interviews given by Li-Young Lee over the past twenty years. From a twenty-nine-year-old poet prodigy to a seasoned veteran in high demand for readings and appearances across the United States and abroad, these interviews capture Li-Young Lee at various stages of his artistic development. He not only discusses his family’s flight from political oppression in China and Indonesia, but how that journey affected his poetry and the engaging, often painful, insights being raised a cultural outsider in America afforded him. Other topics include spirituality (primarily Christianity and Buddhism) and a wide range of aesthetic topics such as literary influences, his own writing practices, the role of formal and informal education in becoming a writer, and his current life as a famous and highly sought-after American poet.
191 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2006
21 people are currently reading
260 people want to read
About the author
Li-Young Lee
33 books409 followersLi-Young Lee is an American poet. He was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Chinese parents. His great-grandfather was Yuan Shikai, China's first Republican President, who attempted to make himself emperor. Lee's father, who was a personal physician to Mao Zedong while in China, relocated his family to Indonesia, where he helped found Gamaliel University. His father was exiled and spent a year in an Indonesian prison camp. In 1959 the Lee family fled the country to escape anti-Chinese sentiment and after a five-year trek through Hong Kong, Macau, and Japan, they settled in the United States in 1964. Li-Young Lee attended the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Arizona, and the State University of New York at Brockport.
Lee attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he began to develop his love for writing. He had seen his father find his passion for ministry and as a result of his father reading to him and encouraging Lee to find his passion, Lee began to dive into the art of language. Lee’s writing has also been influenced by classic Chinese poets, Li Bo and Tu Fu. Many of Lee’s poems are filled with themes of simplicity, strength, and silence. All are strongly influenced by his family history, childhood, and individuality. He writes with simplicity and passion which creates images that take the reader deeper and also requires his audience to fill in the gaps with their own imagination. These feelings of exile and boldness to rebel take shape as they provide common themes for many of his poems.
Li-Young Lee has been an established Asian American poet who has been doing interviews for the past twenty years. Breaking the Alabaster Jar: Conversations with Li-Young Lee (BOA Editions, 2006, ed. Earl G. Ingersoll), is the first edited and published collection of interviews with an Asian American poet. In this collection, Earl G. Ingersoll asks "conversational" questions to bring out Lee’s views on Asian American poetry, writing, and identity.
Lee attended the University of Pittsburgh, where he began to develop his love for writing. He had seen his father find his passion for ministry and as a result of his father reading to him and encouraging Lee to find his passion, Lee began to dive into the art of language. Lee’s writing has also been influenced by classic Chinese poets, Li Bo and Tu Fu. Many of Lee’s poems are filled with themes of simplicity, strength, and silence. All are strongly influenced by his family history, childhood, and individuality. He writes with simplicity and passion which creates images that take the reader deeper and also requires his audience to fill in the gaps with their own imagination. These feelings of exile and boldness to rebel take shape as they provide common themes for many of his poems.
Li-Young Lee has been an established Asian American poet who has been doing interviews for the past twenty years. Breaking the Alabaster Jar: Conversations with Li-Young Lee (BOA Editions, 2006, ed. Earl G. Ingersoll), is the first edited and published collection of interviews with an Asian American poet. In this collection, Earl G. Ingersoll asks "conversational" questions to bring out Lee’s views on Asian American poetry, writing, and identity.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
June 7, 2008
don't be in crisis! you may be earning a fine arts degree, wallowing deeper and deeper into a georgia bog of gator snapping debt, you may be wondering how the fuck you are going to crap out 50 pages of mind blowing, accessible, heartgoddamwrenching, life changing poetry, and wondering how you are going to pay for that 33.3 lb bag of holistic dog food, let alone bring it back to your third floor apartment-- but do not be dismayed! this collection of interviews with Li-Young Lee about writing and developing as an artist is enough of a warm, one arm hug to keep you going. you just need a good clap on the back. rest assured. this thing may work out after all. read while drinking a good green tea. maybe gunpowder or try the gen mai, it's toasty-homey. read while eating lychee treats. yes they have the consistency of (perhaps) squirrel brains, but you only live once.
June 25, 2007
This book made me want to run out and write 50 poems, and then to burn them and write fifty more. Hell, this book made me want to run out and live 50 lives. Or maybe just to be extra blissful in this one. Read it. Good lord.
December 21, 2007
If you're tired of the literary movements in New York, in San Fransisco, in the Iowa based workshops, if you're tired of a poet's genre predicating the individual poem's needs, if you're tired of Slam Poetry's "Make a Point that the crowd can agree to" philosophy, then you should read this book. It discover's the poets sole responsibility in writing poems: make silence palpable.
August 29, 2009
Lee is alive and well, so very awake; the interviews are well edited to cut down on repetition (there's just a bit of it, but the repetition that occurs tends to add to the book's power); Lee stress the vertical/spiritual dimension in poetry and steers clear of the horizontal "dialogue with culture."
He gives us prose writers a lot to think about at the sentence level.
Poetry is about manifold presence, he says.
Lots to expand the mind in this collection of interviews! Would be interesting to teach in a poetry writing class...
(And he has some glowing praise for laundry.)
He gives us prose writers a lot to think about at the sentence level.
Poetry is about manifold presence, he says.
Lots to expand the mind in this collection of interviews! Would be interesting to teach in a poetry writing class...
(And he has some glowing praise for laundry.)
September 26, 2009
i'm so glad jessie's review led me to read these interviews--they were just the sorts of conversations i've been yearning for. i love lee's ecstatic mode, his conviction about the worth of creative work that engages heart and mind, his belief in the interconnectedness of the work and the life, in the worth of striving to think better, understand more deeply, live more fully. such talk could sound flakey, i guess, and the conversations aren't quotable (as i discovered when i tried to quote them to a friend), but they're very alive and lee is no flake. he sends me back to frost and emerson, makes me want to explore meister eckhart and chinese classical poetry.
August 17, 2025
hard to rate on a star scale bc of the many people involved (lee himself, the editor earl ingersoll, all the people spoken to) but the book as a whole was a very thought-provoking read! li-young lee is clearly a poet through and through, and over the course of the compilation i enjoyed hearing the refrains of certain ideas of his and really getting a sense of what he meant.
preface i absolutely loved reading his poetry book "rose" and i think a prior appreciation of his poetry and a sense of his themes made this reading experience a lot more fruitful. i also found the interview with his brother, li-lin lee (section titled "art is who we are") to be the most interesting to me because li-lin, a painter by profession, pushed back on li-young's ideas (like his spiritual ideal of poetry vs the "earthliness" of other art forms) in a way few other interviewers did. but i am also sympathetic to the painter i guess
for my own reference here are the ideas/quotes that i found interesting and would like to think about more (warning there are a lot):
- "when nature has passed through me as an alembic it comes out as art." van gogh resonance (lee also mentions him several times, his "expression of luminosity in the universe"). artist's gaze as filter
- poems as "an unfolding, a discovery." metaphor of the rose endlessly opening, his poems mnemonically circling on themselves. allow a kind of continuity to be made out of memory
- "i don't mind suffering as long as it's really about something. i don't mind great luck, if it's about something. if it's the hollow stuff, then there's no gift, one way or the other."
- writing "requires a kind of supplication, assuming a vulnerable posture," akin to prayer. waiting for the poem to arrive, "waiting for a final shapeliness to occur" (attentive at all times of day)
- in prose, we master language to get to a point. in poetry, language masters us
- "cultured people" = those who have a global view of the world, and they get that view from art ("the creative life"), refined soul instead of refined citizen.
- li-lin on painting: "painting is such a physical thing, but at the same time you're trying to take it beyond that," how the physical can become spiritual and vice versa.
- also li-lin: his wonderment at cultural difference, "true American culture is not a denial of your own heritage, but is a contribution of your heritage into the American." transcending labeling the self
- poetry has two subjects, love (life, presence) and death (negation, absence, fertility). the line enacts love, the margins enact death
- poetry may achieve a visceral resolution but not an intellectual one
- language enacts the unknowability of everything and everyone in our lives. even those closest to us, we cannot "find their boundaries"
- chinese sayings of 前天 and 后天, the future is behind, the past in front: we are backing up, blind, into the future with only the past to see
- listening for the "hum," the vibration of the universe. poetry as enacting those vibrations. art ought to be ideal (subjects of God, the universe) rather than earthly (subjects of culture and canon). "the mind works by going toward what it sees"). poetry proposes possibility
- successful art is a "revelation of law". e.g. for painting, laws of composition and color. when so far ahead it seems like lawlessness
- allowing an image to keep rattling in his head, picking up associations and resonances
- "an image is an idea in its most pristine form." his example: "i look into a dragonfly's eye and see the mountains over my shoulder." embodies contrast, magnitude, the image is the idea
- poetry should be praise. "you are not allowed to just bitch and moan"
- subject of art is the presence doing it, particularly this presence's dialogue with their "demon" (inescapable subject matter). audience is a witness to this interaction, not a subject
- art produces a silence that feels whole. part of this is in how it enacts a disillusionment (causes us to abandon our conventional illusions and narratives, exposing for a moment the terrifying wholeness and saturation of life)
- a day as a mini lifetime, that is why he likes writing at night (akin to the experience of old age, whereas poets who like writing in the mornings write from the innocence of childhood. both are kinds of wisdom)
- "line breaks make notation for the mind actually thinking"
- the blank page with infinite possibility, each poem he commits to closes down the potential of 999 other poems. maybe artists are always being faced with these fig-tree esque decisions of creation and destruction of possibility, knowing that whatever they chose they must commit to developing it fully. knowing that any other decision was equally feasible. this helps w the indecision around adulthood...
- his editor, thom ward, on the role of a poetry editor: "to suggest, to open the doors of perception, but it's the poet's task to make a decision to walk through." revising as a "variety of archaeology, of retrieving the poem beneath the poem"
- writing poetry as a way to practice "mutual divinity" between self and world
so much food for thought! finally i will say that sometimes i became skeptical of his theories of how poetry is changing the world on a mental/spiritual/vibrational register (which then affects action, which affects society, and on and on) but thank god he himself is a poet, walking the walk, choosing the vocation which he finds essential and holy. having read his poetry, i find him more compelling than i might've otherwise. looking forward to reading more of his workkk
preface i absolutely loved reading his poetry book "rose" and i think a prior appreciation of his poetry and a sense of his themes made this reading experience a lot more fruitful. i also found the interview with his brother, li-lin lee (section titled "art is who we are") to be the most interesting to me because li-lin, a painter by profession, pushed back on li-young's ideas (like his spiritual ideal of poetry vs the "earthliness" of other art forms) in a way few other interviewers did. but i am also sympathetic to the painter i guess
for my own reference here are the ideas/quotes that i found interesting and would like to think about more (warning there are a lot):
- "when nature has passed through me as an alembic it comes out as art." van gogh resonance (lee also mentions him several times, his "expression of luminosity in the universe"). artist's gaze as filter
- poems as "an unfolding, a discovery." metaphor of the rose endlessly opening, his poems mnemonically circling on themselves. allow a kind of continuity to be made out of memory
- "i don't mind suffering as long as it's really about something. i don't mind great luck, if it's about something. if it's the hollow stuff, then there's no gift, one way or the other."
- writing "requires a kind of supplication, assuming a vulnerable posture," akin to prayer. waiting for the poem to arrive, "waiting for a final shapeliness to occur" (attentive at all times of day)
- in prose, we master language to get to a point. in poetry, language masters us
- "cultured people" = those who have a global view of the world, and they get that view from art ("the creative life"), refined soul instead of refined citizen.
- li-lin on painting: "painting is such a physical thing, but at the same time you're trying to take it beyond that," how the physical can become spiritual and vice versa.
- also li-lin: his wonderment at cultural difference, "true American culture is not a denial of your own heritage, but is a contribution of your heritage into the American." transcending labeling the self
- poetry has two subjects, love (life, presence) and death (negation, absence, fertility). the line enacts love, the margins enact death
- poetry may achieve a visceral resolution but not an intellectual one
- language enacts the unknowability of everything and everyone in our lives. even those closest to us, we cannot "find their boundaries"
- chinese sayings of 前天 and 后天, the future is behind, the past in front: we are backing up, blind, into the future with only the past to see
- listening for the "hum," the vibration of the universe. poetry as enacting those vibrations. art ought to be ideal (subjects of God, the universe) rather than earthly (subjects of culture and canon). "the mind works by going toward what it sees"). poetry proposes possibility
- successful art is a "revelation of law". e.g. for painting, laws of composition and color. when so far ahead it seems like lawlessness
- allowing an image to keep rattling in his head, picking up associations and resonances
- "an image is an idea in its most pristine form." his example: "i look into a dragonfly's eye and see the mountains over my shoulder." embodies contrast, magnitude, the image is the idea
- poetry should be praise. "you are not allowed to just bitch and moan"
- subject of art is the presence doing it, particularly this presence's dialogue with their "demon" (inescapable subject matter). audience is a witness to this interaction, not a subject
- art produces a silence that feels whole. part of this is in how it enacts a disillusionment (causes us to abandon our conventional illusions and narratives, exposing for a moment the terrifying wholeness and saturation of life)
- a day as a mini lifetime, that is why he likes writing at night (akin to the experience of old age, whereas poets who like writing in the mornings write from the innocence of childhood. both are kinds of wisdom)
- "line breaks make notation for the mind actually thinking"
- the blank page with infinite possibility, each poem he commits to closes down the potential of 999 other poems. maybe artists are always being faced with these fig-tree esque decisions of creation and destruction of possibility, knowing that whatever they chose they must commit to developing it fully. knowing that any other decision was equally feasible. this helps w the indecision around adulthood...
- his editor, thom ward, on the role of a poetry editor: "to suggest, to open the doors of perception, but it's the poet's task to make a decision to walk through." revising as a "variety of archaeology, of retrieving the poem beneath the poem"
- writing poetry as a way to practice "mutual divinity" between self and world
so much food for thought! finally i will say that sometimes i became skeptical of his theories of how poetry is changing the world on a mental/spiritual/vibrational register (which then affects action, which affects society, and on and on) but thank god he himself is a poet, walking the walk, choosing the vocation which he finds essential and holy. having read his poetry, i find him more compelling than i might've otherwise. looking forward to reading more of his workkk
September 13, 2007
Beautiful. This book traces the development of Lee throughout the first few books of his career through interviews. In these deep, sensitive conversations, Lee reflects with honesty and humility on his ideas of craft, the influences of his family and the past, his vision of his work and ideas about art and the world in general. The questions are thoughtful, not artificial, and we are treated to the sense that we are flies on the wall in at some of the most delightful, pensive and insightful conversations in the world.
August 1, 2012
Li-Young Lee is the best. A poem is just the trace mark left of the poetic life and he shows through this series of interviews why he is such a great poet: because his mission is to live a life of total presence and poetry is but his method to self-discovery, i.e., the poem is only a byproduct of his living. He is truly a master philosopher and lover of life. This book would be excellent for people with no poetic aspirations.
March 17, 2008
I love this book. Li-Young Lee talks about poetry, about all sorts of things that feed his poetry. I can't explain how brilliant this is. Lee hates speaking in public that isn't simply the reading of his poetry. So his publisher had the great idea of publishing a book of his interviews. it's fantastic.
March 27, 2012
If you write, or gave up on writing, or are trying to make amends with writing, this book is for you. Li-Young Lee is so passionate and unabashedly sentimental about the significance of poetry's existence in this world, it's inspiring.
June 22, 2007
Fantastic book of interviews with Li-Young Lee
Want to read
December 31, 2019fabulous reflection on the practice of making poems. smart interviewer.
February 25, 2013
Really insightful. Lee is such a character.
April 11, 2024
3.5 rounded down? i can't rate this too highly because it doesn't mean too much to me as a book. great insight into his poetry and what he thinks of the world and truth, but most of why i find this useful is because of my essay. he says some neat things but nothing i'd re-read, i think. it wasn't that enjoyable to me, not that revelatory, or at least not in a way that mattered to me beyond my essay. hirshfield's essays on the other hand... might just be the difference between author-written essays and interviews though.
update: as i re-read to pull quotes... this is really an accurate representation of his poetry. he'll drop some complete perspective and dimension shifting stuff... then say some incomprehensible stuff that irks me. like i'm sure he gets it but... oh, i don't know, i guess he's too convinced of the truth of poetry. i don't think you're supposed to read this book in one sitting like i did.
update: as i re-read to pull quotes... this is really an accurate representation of his poetry. he'll drop some complete perspective and dimension shifting stuff... then say some incomprehensible stuff that irks me. like i'm sure he gets it but... oh, i don't know, i guess he's too convinced of the truth of poetry. i don't think you're supposed to read this book in one sitting like i did.
July 15, 2017
Li-Young Lee is truly one of the poetic souls of our times. The conversations in this diverse collection reveal a mind fully engaged in the work of trying to figure out the meaning of life on its deepest levels. Lee has plumbed those depths and uncovered both fertile soil and magnificent gems. Never cliched and always provocative, Lee struggles to express the ineffable spirit of what makes us all both human and god. His insights into the poetic process are equally enlightening.
August 13, 2007
I give this four stars only because my favorite Lee interview, from Poets & Writers magazine, isn't in here. But this is still a powerful counter-spell against all the dreary spiritless s**t that passes for thinking in the contemporary literary world. The guy truly gets what poetry is for.
You go, Li-Young!
You go, Li-Young!
May 22, 2016
I am a big fan of Li-Young Lee. I love his poetry, and I greatly enjoyed hearing him speak in Grand Rapids some years ago. While I liked the interviews in Breaking the Alabaster Jar and found them interesting, I didn't "love" them.
January 9, 2008
great collection of interviews, good insights.
September 19, 2008
I was watching the Prestige movie about the art of magic. I thought that these interviews were probing for the secret to the art of poetry.
September 26, 2012
Some books you just have to wait until it's time to read.
August 20, 2007
The closest I will get to having a conversation with him....
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews