Justin Chin, "an award-winning San Francisco poet whose work has been celebrated for its bold unconventionality, mixing humor with potent political and personal themes," died December 24, SFGate reported. He was 46. Chin's books include Bite Hard, Harmless Medicine, Gutted and 98 Wounds.
Paul Yamazaki, book buyer at City Lights Booksellers, observed that "Chin for the two past decades has been one of the most heroic, acerbic, funny voices to emerge in the world of American poetry. City Lights will miss the vitality of his work both in performance and on the page."
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Author Andrea Cheng died on Saturday, December 26. She was 58.
Cheng published many picture books and middle grade books, the most recent of which was the Year of... chapter book series (including Year of the Book, Year of the Baby, Year of the Fortune Cookie and Year of the Three Sisters). All of the books were Junior Library Guild selections and received many honors and nominations. A prequel to the series, Year of the Garden, will be published in 2017. Her publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, said that Cheng "was a lovely person, and HMH was proud to publish her."
Cheng's family asked that in lieu of flowers or food, donations may be made to either the Andrea Cheng English as a Second Language Scholarship at Cincinnati State, where she taught ESL and children's literature, or to the Cincinnati Public Library. Please note that the gift is in memory of Andrea Cheng.