Michael Derrick Hudson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963 (age 60–61) Wabash, Indiana, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Yi-Fen Chou |
| Alma mater | Indiana University Bloomington |
| Occupations |
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| Employer(s) | Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana |
| Known for | Using a Chinese female pseudonym in seeking publication |
Michael Derrick Hudson (born 1963) is an American poet and librarian. Hudson is employed at the Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne where his job includes encoding articles for the Periodical Source Index (PERSI).[1][2]
As a poet, Hudson has been published in several journals and literary reviews. His poems were nominated for the Pushcart Prize by the Greensboro Review and North American Review. Hudson gained attention by publishing a poem in the literary periodical Prairie Schooner which then was selected by poet and novelist Sherman Alexie for the 2015 edition of the Best American Poetry anthology series. Hudson, who is white, claimed to have submitted the poem and been rejected 40 times under his own name. He then used the pen name of Yi-Fen Chou, putatively a Chinese woman, and it was accepted for publication.
Critics and people within the poetry community were critical of Hudson's use of the pseudonym. Some called it racist, an act of "yellowface", or describing it as "literary fraud". Others were critical of the publishing establishment for inserting affirmative action and identity politics into the editorial selection process, and said Hudson's success after adopting an Asian-sounding pen name showed that literary journals apply different standards of literary quality based on race and gender.