Joe Pan

Last updated
Joe Pan
BornJoe Millar
Florida, USA
OccupationWriter, publisher
Alma mater
Period2007–present
GenreFiction, poetry
SpouseWendy Pan Millar
Website
joepan.com

Joe Pan (born Joe Millar) is an American writer and publisher based in Los Angeles. He has written five collections of poetry, and his debut novel Florida Palms was published by Simon & Schuster in 2025. He is the founding publisher and editor of Brooklyn Arts Press (winner of the National Book Award for Poetry for publishing Daniel Borzutzky's The Performance of Becoming Human ), and the publisher of Augury Books.

Contents

Early life and education

Pan grew up in the Space Coast region of Florida. [1] He received a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, [2] and a master of fine arts from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. [1] He moved to Brooklyn in 2003. [3]

Career

Writing

Pan's first poetry collection, Autobiomythography & Gallery, was published in 2007. [4] It was named Best First Book of 2007 by Coldfront Magazine, and was shortlisted for the Younger Poets Prize, National Poetry Series, and Walt Whitman Award. [1] His second poetry collection, Hiccups, was published by Augury Books in 2015. [5] In a review in Luna Luna Magazine, Joanna Valente wrote, "Pan gracefully and poignantly connects and interweaves all the mysteries of our lives in such a way where it's not just keenly observant, but fiercely unforgiving of the world around us." [6] Pan's fifth poetry collection, Operating Systems, was published by Spork Press in 2019. [7] It includes the long poem "Ode to the MQ-9 Reaper", which was first printed in the literary quarterly Epiphany [8] and was later excerpted in a 2013 article in The New York Times . [9] Reviewing the book in The Brooklyn Rail , J.C. Hallman called it "that rarest of rare books - excellent precisely to the extent that it is impossible to classify." [8]

His debut novel, Florida Palms, about a group of young men dragged into a drug-running operation, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2025. [10] The New York Times Book Review, in a glowing review, stated: "The pleasure here, as any noir fan can tell you, lies less in the larger plot points than in the specifics (a mark surprised by a hit man while half-naked and painted to look like a chicken, the handlebars of a biker’s chopper decorated with a human kneecap) and in the overall vibe of doom — a musky, Florida-specific stew of sweat, blood, swamp gas and amphetamine addiction." [11] The Library Journal gave Florida Palms a starred review, calling it: "A must-read. Pan’s intense drama has a Sons of Anarchy vibe but with a greater pathos." [12]

Publishing and editing

Pan is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Brooklyn Arts Press, an independent publisher which he founded in Brooklyn in 2007. [13] [14] It published The Performance of Becoming Human by Daniel Borzutzky, which won the 2016 National Book Award for Poetry. [15] [16] In 2017, Brooklyn Arts Press acquired Augury Books, an independent press founded by Kate Angus in 2010. [17]

Pan was the first poetry editor for Hyperallergic , serving in that capacity from 2012 to 2016. [18] He and Jason Koo edited the Brooklyn Poets Anthology, an anthology of Brooklyn-based poets, published in 2017. [19]

Bibliography

Novel

Poetry

Nonfiction

As editor

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mystery, Irony, and Poetry in the Culture of Now: A Conversation between Joe Millar and Chris O. Cook". Boxcar Poetry Review. 1 July 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  2. ↑ "UNCG acquires archives of Augury Books and Brooklyn Arts Press". Augury Books. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  3. ↑ Seidlinger, Michael (9 August 2018). "How to Build Your Own Small Press in Brooklyn". Electric Lit. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  4. ↑ Mosson, Gregg (1 November 2007). "Renewal and Experiment: Two First Books in Contemporary American Poetry". Boxcar Poetry Review. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  5. ↑ "Hiccups". Publishers Weekly. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  6. ↑ Valente, Joanna (3 November 2015). "Review of Joe Pan's Hiccups". Luna Luna Magazine. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  7. ↑ Aldrich, Eric (9 July 2019). "Operating Systems, a poetry collection by Joe Pan". Heavy Feather Review. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  8. 1 2 Hallman, J.C. (1 July 2019). "Joe Pan's Operating Systems". Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  9. ↑ Shane, Scott (8 March 2013). "Visions of Drones Swarming U.S. Skies Hit Bipartisan Nerve". New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  10. ↑ "Florida Palms". Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  11. ↑ Wray, John. "Party Drugs, Bikers, Hit Men: It's Crime Fiction, Florida Style". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  12. ↑ Zozzaro, Philip (June 1, 2025). "Florida Palms". Library Journal. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  13. ↑ Simon, Lizzie (25 March 2012). "Pressing for Good Poetry". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  14. ↑ Sturgeon, Jonathon (2 March 2015). "Can This Small Publisher's Radiohead-Style Plan Change the Way Books Are Sold?". Flavorwire. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  15. ↑ Kellogg, Carolyn (17 November 2016). "The importance of black voices is clear at National Book Awards where Colson Whitehead wins fiction prize". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  16. ↑ Kelly, Keith (17 November 2016). "Rising demand has publishers rushing to presses after National Book Awards". New York Post. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  17. ↑ White, Arisa (2 February 2018). "Flying Blind: A Conversation with Kate Angus and Joe Pan". The Rumpus. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  18. ↑ Pan, Joe (6 May 2016). "Welcome Wendy Xu, Hyperallergic's New Poetry Editor, as Joe Pan Shifts to Fiction". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  19. ↑ Cowles, Gregory (28 July 2017). "Two Poets Walk Into a Bookstore". New York Times. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
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