Poets Turned Novelists: Background information when reading Yr Dead

Yr Dead is author Sam Sax's debut novel, but not their first published work; they have previously published four chapbooks and three full collections of poetry, one of which won the James Laughlin Award and another of which won the National Poetry Series. Many other well-established poets have also turned to fiction with great success. A few of them are featured below.

Ocean Vuong
Ocean Vuong is known for his emotionally charged work that explores sexuality, Vietnamese American identity, and human connection. His debut collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds was published in 2016 to much critical acclaim and a string of major awards, including the T.S. Eliot Prize and the Whiting Award. He followed it up with the 2019 novel On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, which was a New York Times bestseller and was nominated for the National Book Award. In 2022, he returned to poetry with his latest collection, Time Is a Mother.

Hala Alyan
Hala Alyan is a Palestinian American writer and clinical...