Lost In America chronicles the pain and joy of navigating life in America as the daughter of an immigrant Chinese father and German mother. Using the lens of ambiguous personal identity, the narrator confronts various societal fault lines: language, culture, privilege and exclusion, lies and truth-telling, home and rootlessness, youth and aging.

Praise for Lennie Hay & Lost in America

Lost in America is a richly detailed, many-layered evocation of a unique American experience. Daughter of a German mother and an immigrant Chinese father, Lennie Hay takes her readers on a quest to recover some essential sense of identity beyond the self. As she investigates the past through memory and research, paying close attention to places and people she has known, she uncovers hidden truths, exposes injustices, and reimagines the stories that shape a life. In the poems of Lost in America readers can find deep feeling, clear insights, hard truths, and the voice of a poet who knows her story connects to all our stories. “I ache for us all,” she says, and we know she means it.

—Greg Pape, author of A Field of First Things

In this stunning collection, Lennie Hay searches for her roots, for understanding of where she came from and who she is. Her search becomes the archetypal search we all share. Who hasn’t been an outsider in some dimension? These are poems of word intoxication, sensuous beauty. She, and thus we, are blessed with rich, textured memories that go to the bone. Lost in America is a breath-taking accomplishment.

—Pat Williams Owen, author of Crossing the Sky Bridge

Neither Cantonese daughter, nor German farm girl, the speaker in these poems seeks to stake a place for herself and her family—a welcoming place, free of prejudice, where one can feel at home in one’s country of birth. During her own journey, she seeks answers to family secrets, embraces the natural beauty of the landscape, savors succulent flavors, connects with past and present members of an ever-evolving family. I love the luscious language of these poems, the moving and relatable voice, the stories of forgiveness and deep understanding that we need more than ever.

—Katerina Stoykova, author of Between a Bird Cage and a Bird House

About the Author

Lennie Hay grew up in the Midwest living between two cultures—Chinese immigrants and German Ukrainian farmers. She now lives half of the year on the banks of the Ohio River in Southern Indiana and half of the year in Indian Shores, Florida. She earned her undergraduate degree in English from the University of Minnesota, master’s and doctorate degrees in education from the University of Louisville and an MFA in poetry from Spalding University. For more than 40 years, Lennie worked as a teacher, principal, district leader and educational consultant. She grew up studying piano and pipe organ and indulges her love of jazz and classical music whenever and wherever possible. Lennie’s work has been published in various regional, national, and international print and online journals such as The Louisville Review, Accents, Shanghai Literary Review, The Heartland Review, and City Lights e Magazine among others. Additionally, her work was included in the 2019 literary anthology Boom and in the 2024 Florida Bards Poetry Anthology.