“Russian Letter” was published in Yau’s collection Borrowed Love Poems, which was reviewed by Joshua Clover in Artforum. Clover calls the collection “vivid, mysterious, unsettling, and laconically charming in shifting degrees.” Clover then adds that “it’s a terrific and variegated book of poems.” Throughout the collection, Clover writes, Yau’s poetry exemplifies many of the underlying principles of the L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets, who question language, meaning, and identity. Clover finds Yau’s poetry very satisfying, “fun,” and full of “tonal richness.”

Although Yau, in general, received critical consideration for his poetry, that attention has not been extensive, especially in terms of the featured collection, Borrowed Love Poems. One other reviewer, however, Paisley Rekdal, writing for a Seattle-based journal, the International Examiner, refers to Yau...