David Ly’s poems have been published in print and online literary journals. Ly is a graduate of Simon Fraser University’s Master of Publishing programme. He is the poetry editor at This Magazine and currently lives in Vancouver.
Poetry
Dream of Me as Water: Poems
Windsor: Anstruther Books, 2022.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
Moving beyond the themes of race, identity, and personhood navigated in Mythical Man, David Ly’s second book of poetry, Dream of Me as Water, explores ways of being that are not beholden to the expectations of others. Using water as his central metaphor, Ly meditates on how identity is never a stagnant concept, but instead something that is intangible, fluid, and ever-evolving. Dream of Me as Water revels in the nuances of the self, flouting outside perceptions for deeper, more personal realities.
Awards and Honours
2023 ReLit Award–Poetry (Shortlist)
Poetry
Mythical Man: Poems
Windsor: Palimpsest Press, 2020.
e-book (Access restricted to members of the university community)
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
Ma misses the sun, warmth and colors of their faraway homeland, but her daughter sees magic in everything — the clouds in the winter sky, the “firework” display when she throws an armful of snow into the air, making snow angels, tasting snowflakes. And in the end, her joy is contagious. Home is where family is, after all.
In Mythical Man, David Ly builds, and then tears down, an army of men in a quest to explore personhood in the 21st century. Tenderness, toxic masculinity, nuances of queer love, and questions of race and identity mix in Ly’s poetry, casting a spell that enters like “a warm tongue on a first date.” Mythical Man is an authentic and accomplished debut.
Awards and Honours
2021 ReLit Award–Poetry (Shortlist)
Poetry (Chapbook)
Stubble Burn
Toronto: Anstruther Press, 2018.
Anthology
Queer Little Nightmares: An Anthology of Monstrous Fiction and Poetry
Edited by David Ly and Daniel Zomparelli.
Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022.
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
The fiction and poetry of Queer Little Nightmares reimagines monsters old and new through a queer lens, subverting the horror gaze to celebrate ideas and identities canonically feared in monster lit. Throughout history, monsters have appeared in popular culture as stand-ins for the non-conforming, the marginalized of society. Pushed into the shadows as objects of fear, revulsion, and hostility, these characters have long conjured fascination and self-identification in the LGBTQ+ community, and over time, monsters have become queer icons.
In Queer Little Nightmares, creatures of myth and folklore seek belonging and intimate connection, cryptids challenge their outcast status, and classic movie monsters explore the experience of coming into queerness. The characters in these stories and poems – the Minotaur camouflaged in a crowd of cosplayers, a pubescent werewolf, a Hindu revenant waiting to reunite with her lover, a tender-hearted kaiju, a lagoon creature aching for the swimmers above him, a ghost of Pride past – relish their new sparkle in the spotlight. Pushing against tropes that have historically been used to demonize, the queer creators of this collection instead ask: What does it mean to be (and to love) a monster?
Contributors include Amber Dawn, David Demchuk, Hiromi Goto, jaye simpson, Eddy Boudel Tan, Matthew J. Trafford, and Kai Cheng Thom.
Fiction
Not All Dragons
Hamilton: Wolsak & Wynn, 2026.
forthcoming May 2026
Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)
What is it that you are, Rhys?
In a land of magic and myth, Rhys awakens on the shore of Lanilia with mysterious wounds on his back and no memory of his life before. Disoriented, he stumbles on the Mernese estuary protected by the mermaid Delia, who is quickly intrigued by this male who doesn’t smell like any Lanilian she’s ever met and who is unable to answer questions about himself. Determined to figure out his past, Rhys convinces Delia to help, and begins a dangerous journey to discover who he is, or was, and who he might become as they hunt for the truth beneath story and prophecy.
David Ly brings readers a fascinating and fresh take on dragons and destiny in this captivating debut novel.
Links
Publisher Arsenal Pulp Press
Publisher Anstruther Press
Publisher Palimpsest Press publisher of the Anstruther Books imprint
Publisher Wolsak & Wynn
Author profile with Shawn Syms from the Quill & Quire website