Dear Alter

A first poetry collection full of telenoid daydreams and androids in the bureaucracy.

I was born this way.
I was made to be soft and pleasant to touch.
It’s the silicone. Father is considering
polyvinyl chloride for my future siblings
because it’s cheaper. I hope you understand
how special that makes me.

Were you born this way too?
Your body is not smooth but it is warm.

Exploring the ambiguities, paradoxes and kinships between human and machine in this first poetry collection, Jiaqiao Liu conjures passionate robots and open-source body hacking, password managers and fuzzy moon rovers, missed communications and learned sensations. Drawing on Chinese mythologies and experiments in form, Liu pulls us into a world that feels familiar to twenty-first-century cybercitizens, yet is new and strange to inhabit.

Is it natural to grow up?
Are you growing down?
Where will I grow up to?