Poetry Book Reading by Dr. Jonathan Chou

Keck School of Medicine alumnus, MIT psychiatrist, and lecturer in the Narrative Medicine Program, Jonathan Chou, is also an accomplished poet. His debut poetry collection, Resemblance/與, won the 2023 Alma Book Award and is now on bookshelves. Resemblance/與is a spare, lyrical, and beautiful refraction of memory while exploring the 228 Incident of 1947 and White Terror period in Taiwan’s history. Chou’s collection seems to understand that memory isn’t about remembering, but about standing in place as Browning once said of the lyric poet, who “digs where he stands.” Resemblance/與 seems to say, “Finally we stopped looking/for a way out,” instead preferring to unravel in place.