My Yearly Substack Post
2025 was a year
Hello again. I would be shocked if anyone reads this, given my inconsistent posting cadence, but I did want to pop in and share a bit about what I was up to this year.
I published a book!
My debut full-length poetry collection Let the Moon Wobble was published on November 11th. It was roughly seven years in the making. Releasing this book was both over- and underwhelming. It was the most monumental achievement of my life, but at the same time it didn’t really change anything. Some people said incredibly kind things about it (The Stranger, Library Journal, Debutiful, Bear Review, Platform Magazine, Electric Literature). I’m very proud of it and I’m also happy to let it go. I already feel like such a different writer and person than I was when I wrote that book. I’m currently writing book #2 and having so much fun with it. My endless gratitude to everyone who helped make this book possible and to everyone who has read it so far or has it on their TBR.
I published some poems in lit mags!
Most of them are from Let the Moon Wobble but a couple of them are from book #2. You can read most of them here:
Postoperative Care - Cortland Review
“It Seems Like You’ve Been Preparing Your Whole Life” - Moss Lit (print only)
The Moon, Abstracted - Poetry Northwest
Self-Portrait with Cropped Hair; We/Us/Ours; Risk Assessment - Seattle Met
Owed to My Father’s Accent - Poetry Daily (originally published by Columbia Journal)
Kissing the Rose and I’m Ashamed to Say It Out Loud - beestung
Year of the Pig - Tahoma Literary Review
What doesn’t kill me / makes me - WA State Queer Poetry Anthology
From Holes We Emerged and into Holes We Shall Return - Split Lip Magazine
I edited two books!
It was a light editing year for me, but I did get to work on two books that are very dear to my heart: Big Money Porno Mommy by Catherine Weiss (which features, in addition to nonstop banger poems, one of my favorite book covers of all time), and Marginal Verse by Jamie Silvonek. The latter is particularly special as Jamie is one of my closest friends. She has been incarcerated in an adult prison since she was 14, and in that time she has become an incredible writer and person. Marignal Verse is Jamie’s first book of poems, and it’s absolutely breathtaking. She writes about incarceration, guilt, shame, desire, and redemption with ferocity and lyrical precision. Editing and publishing this book was a huge labor of love as we had to navigate all the stupid communication and logistical barriers that prison imposes (have you ever tried to edit an entire book via 15-minute phone calls? It’s not easy!) but I’m so glad this book is in the world. Along with my friends Forest and Josh, we also hosted a virtual book launch for Jamie featuring readings by inside and outside writers. It was a really special way to celebrate an amazing book!
I also helped my friend Bim (who is also an incarcerated writer & artist) edit and publish his essay “Lingering Effects”—about meeting his little nephew for the first time in a prison visiting room—in the Massachusetts Review’s special issue on Incarceration & Family. This was Bim’s first publication in a literary magazine. You can purchase a copy here.
I interviewed writers I love!
Asking questions is one of my favorite hobbies, and this year I got the chance to ask some of my favorite writers questions about their fantastic books:
What if HIM from The Powerpuff Girls Was a Genderqueer Barista? CD Eskilson interviewed by Ally Ang - Electric Literature
Patrycja Humienik Explores the Tenderness and Tension of Being an Immigrant Daughter, an interview with Ally Ang - Electric Literature
I also wanted to mention Jo Lou, my editor for these interviews at Electric Literature, who tragically passed away this year. Although I only knew her briefly, she was wonderful to work with and she is deeply missed.
Other People’s Poems!
2025 was the first full year of Other People’s Poems, and it was delightful beyond measure. For those of you who aren’t in the know, Other People’s Poems is a poetry open mic & reading series that I have co-hosted with bestie Cody Stetzel since Fall 2024. The series celebrates readers and lovers of poetry, and each month (roughly), we invite three featured readers to read their favorite poems written by (you guessed it) other people. In 2025, we had ten events and got to feature some of the best talent in Seattle, including Paul Hlava Ceballos, Patrick Milian, Woogee Bae, Cass Garison, Constance Hansen, nanya jhingran, Oliver Brickman, Mateo Bracken, Garfield Hillson, Diana Xin, Amy Hirayama, Joyce Chen, Sullivan Forderhase, Shelby Handler, Dujie Tahat, Ching-In Chen, Kalehua Kim, Corinne Manning, Bill Carty, Rhea Melina, Jay Aquinas Thompson, Rivka Clifton, Laura Da’, Esther Lin, Troy Osaki, Alexa Luborsky, Mita Mahato, Katie Lee Ellison, Dario Cvencek, and Aster Olsen. We were also fortunate enough to receive funding from 4Culture to help us pay our readers and the volunteers who make OPP possible! And we invited wonderful guest hosts and curators Gabrielle Bates and Constance Hansen to hold it down for us while I released my book and Cody got married. Speaking of which…
I officiated a wedding!
Cody married their lovely wife Heather and I was lucky enough to officiate! Just call me Minister Ang. It was a beautiful celebration of love and I was so honored to be a part of it. I would love to officiate more weddings (but only for people I know and love deeply) so if you have impending nuptials, hit me up.
I read over 150 books!
And here were my favorites:
I wrote a poem for a short film!
This is one of the coolest projects I worked on all year. The incredible artist & filmmaker Eva Wu asked me to write a poem for their short film “Red Light Green,” which premiered at NewFest and was also part of the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival, the Vancouver Queer Film Festival, and the Video Art and Experimental Film Festival. It was an exciting challenge to write a poem for someone else’s project, and I think it turned out pretty magical.
About the film: Experience this rotating and hypnotic sensory-world, where gyrating nymphs express love beyond your wildest fantasies. Dedicated to parents everywhere who did their very best, this short film is a love letter to the grown children — especially trans, queer, sex working, and otherwise marginalized and criminalized folks — who surpassed their parents, in daring to be bold in pursuit of their best lives.
You can watch the film here.
Finally, I wanted to shout out by name all the people whose friendship, support, and kindness touched me this year in big or small ways and anyone who gave me opportunities and a platform for my voice. If I omitted you, please forgive me.
Bhupi, Justice, Zury, Angel, Cass, Cody, my parents, Forest, Nicholas, Aathira, Anju, Bri, Marqus, Levi, Josh, Stephen, Leigh, Georgie, Billie, Shelby, Nic, Ray, Oma, Jake, Allison, Jamie, Jane, Michael, sterling-elizabeth, Athanasius, Summer, Asa, David, Michael (different one), Olive, Bim, Gabby, Katie, Yanyi, Chen, Eric, Shira, Sumita, Paul, Sarah, Rivka, Jas, Eva, Q, Esther, Aline, Nickle, Emily, Lily, Sam, Jasmine, Giovanna, Jericho, Ariana, Itiola, Sam (different one), Kevin, Hanna, Ching-In, Patrycja, r., Woogee, Julian, Constance, Ama, Perdis, Tanya, my therapist, my coworkers, and the Alice James Books team.
Thank you for being here! I’ll see you next year probably!
good googly moogly you've done so much!!!
This was absolutely worth waiting a year to read!