White Man Uses Chinese Name To Get Previously Rejected Poem Published

© Catherine Benson CRB / Reuters

A white man had his poem rejected by poetry journals 40 times – that is, until he submitted it as Yi-Fen Chou. Under the Chinese pseudonym, his poem was named one of America’s best of 2015. Titled “The Bees, the Flowers, Jesus, Ancient Tigers, Poseidon, Adam and Eve,” the poem was recently published in the prestigious journal The Best American Poetry 2015 alongside a few dozen other pieces selected from the hundreds or even thousands that had been submitted.

RT report continues:

Given the poems apparent strength, it seemed strange that it had received such little notice or appreciation from the editors of literary journals and publications. Indiana genealogist Michael Derrick Hudson, who authored the work, suspected that it might have had something to do with his not-so-exotic-sounding name.

“The poem in question, ‘The Bees, the Flowers, Jesus, Ancient Tigers, Poseidon, Adam and Eve,’ was rejected under my real name forty (40) times before I sent it out as Yi-Fen Chou (I keep detailed submission records). As Yi-Fen the poem was rejected nine (9) times before Prairie Schooner took it. If indeed this is one of the best American poems of 2015, it took quite a bit of effort to get it into print, but I’m nothing if not persistent,” he wrote.

It turns out that the “Chinese name strategy” was a winner. After being accepted by the esteemed journal, Hudson revealed to this year’s editor, award-winning author and poet Sherman Alexie, that there is really no such person as Yi-Fen Chou.

Alexie made no effort to hide his frustration or his political motivations in a lighthearted blog post he wrote, largely in response to the fiasco.

“I silently cursed him and wondered how I would deal with this colonial theft,” he writes, alluding to a white man’s theft of Chinese identity. Politically correct preferences, at least when Alexie is calling the shots, aren’t the stuff of theory and guesswork.

“Bluntly stated, I was more amenable to the poem because I thought the author was Chinese American,” he adds.

So, as it turns out, Hudson was clearly vindicated in employing his nom de plume strategy. And despite the frustration and embarrassment of being deceived, Alexie admits that he still likes the poem, and won’t disqualify it from the journal.

But despite this admission from the journal’s editor himself, some users on Twitter took the fiasco as an example of white males having an easier time getting published.

Others drew comparisons between Yi-Fe Chou and Rachel Dolezal, the woman born of white parents who identified as black and became president of a local NAACP chapter, since both had taken advantage of benefits that came with being part of a marginalized group.

However, playing on demographics to get published is nothing new. It’s no secret that women have long used male pen names to appeal to more readers and gain acceptance. Some famous examples include Victorian writer Mary Ann Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, and “Little Women” author Louisa May Alcott, who went by B. A. Evans. Even in the present day, Harry Potter author Joanne Rowling was urged by her publishers to go as J.K. Rowling, despite the fact that she doesn’t have a middle name at all.

Meanwhile ABC News America had reported that a white man named Michael Derrick Hudson claims that changing his name to "Yi-Fen Chou" has given him a leg up in the brutal world of published poetry. The revelation has sparked accusations of misrepresentation and racism, with comparisons to disgraced Rachel Dolezal.

Hudson, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, is a genealogist at the Allen County Public Library. His poem -- “The Bees, the Flowers, Jesus, Ancient Tigers, Poseidon, Adam and Eve" -- was selected for the 2015 edition of “Best American Poetry,” with the pseudonym that uses a surname of Chinese origins.

Sherman Alexie, the editor who selected the poem for the annual anthology of 75 works, then received a note from Hudson himself.

"I chose a strange and funny and rueful poem written by Yi-Fen Chou, which turns out to be a Chinese pseudonym used by a white male poet named Michael Derrick Hudson as a means of subverting what he believes to be a politically correct poetry business," Alexie wrote in a blog post published Monday. "I only learned that Yi-Fen Chou was a pseudonym used by a white man after I'd already picked the poem and Hudson promptly wrote to reveal himself."

Some online commenters have called for the removal of the poem from the book, which is released this month by Simon and Schuster's Scribner publishing group.

"Although your reasons for publishing the poem MAY be defensible, the racist suggestion of the pseudonym is not," one online comment to Alexie's blog stated.

Phil Yu, who runs the blog "AngryAsianMan.com," wrote online, "Folks, if there is such a thing as employing yellowface in poetry, this has to be it."

Hudson explained that changing his name as an author helped his poetry career.

"There is a very short answer for my use of a nom de plume: after a poem of mine has been rejected a multitude of times under my real name, I put Yi-Fen's name on it and send it out again. As a strategy for 'placing' poems this has been quite successful for me," Hudson wrote in the contributors' notes section of "The Best American Poetry 2015."

Hudson did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

The poetry scandal is described as having a "Rachel Dolezal-esque tangle of questions about identity, authenticity, political correctness and 'affirmative action,'" according to The Washington Post, referring to the former NAACP chapter president in Spokane, Washington, who was accused of lying about her race and background.

Alexie explained in his blog post why he decided to keep the poem in the collection.

"And, yes, in keeping the poem, I am quite aware that I am also committing an injustice against poets of color, and against Chinese and Asian poets in particular.," Alexie wrote. "But I believe I would have committed a larger injustice by dumping the poem. I think I would have cast doubt on every poem I have chosen for BAP.

“It would have implied that I chose poems based only on identity. But that's not what happened. In the end, I chose each poem in the anthology because I love it. And to deny my love for any of them is to deny my love for all of them."