Quiet Fire: A Historical Anthology of Asian American Poetry 1892-1970 provides the first historical survey of Asian American poetry, selected to reflect both the high quality and wide range of these works. The anthology begins with writings from the 1890s by Sadakichi Hartmann and Yone Noguchi, and includes poems by Jun Fujita (1923), Bunishi Kagawa (1930), Hisaye Yamamoto (1940), Diana Chang (1946), and others.

Early work by well-known writers Joy Kogawa, Jessi ca Hagedorn, and Lawson Inada are also represented. Essays by Fay Chiang, Eric C hock, Alan Chong Lau, Kimiko Hahn, and Gerry Shikatani give an overview of regional Asian American poetry scenes from the 1970s through the 1990s. The book is edited by Juliana Chang, who also provides a complete bibliography of published volumes of Asian American poetry. An important sourcebook, Quiet Fire makes a significant contribution to the remapping of Asian poetry and Asian American literature.