Hudson is employed at the Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne where his job includes encoding articles for the Periodical Source Index (PERSI).
Hudson gained attention by publishing a poem in the literary periodical Prairie Schooner which then was selected by poet and novelist Sherman Alexie for the 2015 edition of the Best American Poetry anthology series.
[3] Hudson wrote a poem titled "The Bees, the Flowers, Jesus, Ancient Tigers, Poseidon, Adam and Eve" and claimed to have submitted it to 40 literary magazines under his own name.
Hudson also claimed that after nine rejections, it was accepted for publication in Fall 2014 with four other poems by "Yi-Fen Chou" by Prairie Schooner, a literary journal affiliated with the University of Nebraska.
The poem in question ... was rejected under my real name forty (40) times before I sent it out as Yi-Fen Chou (I keep detailed submission records).
After learning of Hudson's pseudonym, Alexie admitted that he "paid more initial attention to his poem because of my perception and misperception of the poet's identity".
"[15] The publishing of Alexie's comment and Hudson's contributor note ignited a heated debate online, in the media, and amongst the literary world.
[19] According to Megan Garber, writing in The Atlantic, Hudson intended to make a point about "identity politics in the machinations of the American literary establishment, perhaps about the plight of the white man as an outgrowth of those politics—he also did it, it seems, as a matter of expediency: A pseudonym seemed to be the only way he could get this particular poem published.
[22][23] Waldman characterizes the poem as "a poetry of grievance, and if flecks of self-mocking humor soften its despair, I'd argue that it's still slightly more interesting coming from a Chinese American writer than a white one".
"[22][23] Rod Dreher, writing in The American Conservative said that the poetry community "cannot have it both ways"—in seeking diversity as a chief criterion, it will sacrifice merit and fairness.