C. Dale Young

C. Dale Young (born April 18, 1969) is an American poet and writer, physician, editor and educator of Asian and Latino descent.

Life Young writes and publishes poetry and short stories, practices medicine full-time, and teaches in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers. For 19 years, he edited poetry for New England Review, stepping down from the post of poetry editor there in August 2014. His poems have appeared in many magazines and journals, including The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, The Paris Review, POETRY, Yale Review, and elsewhere. His work has also been included in anthologies, including The Best American Poetry.

Young grew up in south Florida, and his early work is inspired by the tropical landscape of his home state. He holds degrees from Boston College (BS 1991) and the University of Florida (MFA 1993 and MD 1997). He completed his medical internship at the Riverside Regional Medical Center and his residency in radiation oncology at the University of California, San Francisco.

He lives in San Francisco, California.

Poetry

Collections

Building the Perfect Animal: New & Selected Poems, poems (Four Way Books, 2025) Prometeo, poems (Four Way Books, 2021) The Halo, poems (Four Way Books, 2016) Torn, poems (Four Way Books, 2011) The Second Person, poems (Four Way Books, 2007) The Day Underneath the Day, poems (Northwestern University Press, 2001)

Limited Edition

Torn, letter-press broadside (Mad River Press, 2004)

Fiction

Collections

The Affliction, novel-in-stories (Four Way Books, 2018)

Short stories

"The Intersection" (Blackbird, Spring 2021) "The News" (The Normal School, March 31, 2016) "Inside the Great House" (The Hopkins Review, Fall 2014) "Jewels" (Waxwing, Summer 2014) "The Fortunate" (Blackbird, May 5, 2014) "Desaparecido" (Waxwing, Spring 2014) "Between Men" (Four Way Review, Sep 30, 2012) "The Affliction" (Guernica, Feb 15, 2010)

Essays

"The Veil of Accessibility: Examining Poems by Frank O’Hara and Kenneth Koch in Light of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness" (American Poetry Review, March/April, 2013)

Awards 2026: Thom Gunn Award for Gay Poetry, Finalist 2022: UNT Rilke Prize, Finalist 2019: John Gardner Fiction Book Award, Finalist 2019: Boston College Arts Council Alumni Award for Distinguished Achievement 2017: The 2016 Lambda Literary Award in Poetry, Finalist 2017: Hanes Award in Poetry, given by the Fellowship of Southern Writers 2015: UCSF 150th Anniversary Alumni Excellence Award 2014: Stanley W. Lindberg Award for Literary Editing 2012: Fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation for residency at the Bellagio Study Center in 2013 2012: The MacDowell Colony, Residency Fellowship 2012: 2012 Guggenheim Fellowship 2009: Amanda Davis Returning Fellowship, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference 2008: 2009 Poetry Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts 2008: 2007 ForeWord Magazine Poetry Book of the Year Award, Finalist 2008: The 2007 Lambda Literary Award in Poetry, Finalist 2008: Northern California Book Award in Poetry, Finalist 2007: The Corporation of Yaddo, Residency Fellowship 2004: Academy of American Poets' James Laughlin Award, Finalist 2003: Stanley P. Young Fellowship, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference 2002: Norma Farber Poetry Award, Finalist 1992: Tennessee Williams Scholarship in Poetry, Sewanee Writers' Conference 1992: Grolier Poetry Prize