This book contains selected poems of Yan Zhi, whose position as a "surfer" in the currents of economic change has given him a special vantage point for reading the times. He turns out to be a far-ranging poet who not only registers the temper of our times but also mines his private, inward experience for inspiration. Yan Zhi is a recorder of urban alienation and the new unsure ground we are moving towards. Life in large metropolises is taking us all into new territory, in which the individual can often feel bewildered, isolated and full of nameless apprehension for what lies ahead. Yan Zhi likes to wear more than one hat in life, so as to get a full taste of life's vividness. His wish to taste life deeply seems the tendency of a poet rather than of a businessman; yet in the case of Yan Zhi, these categories cannot be clearly separated.
AUTHOR
Born in Hubei province, China, Yan Zhi started his literary creation in 1988. In addition to hundreds of poems and short stories that appeared in many national and regional publications, including the People's Daily, Literary Gazette, and Poetry, he has published several volumes of poetry and novels. Yan Zhi won first place in the poetry competition sponsored by Poetry magazine in 2008, and the Second Xu Zhimo Poetry Competition award, among others. His most recent publication was long poetry Elegies and Memorial, which was published in 2010 simultaneously in mainland China and Taiwan.
TRANSLATOR
Denis Mair, born 1951 in America, is a translator, poet and Sinologist. He holds an M.A. in Chinese from Ohio State University. He has translated the work of numerous Chinese poets for Western readers. His own poetry collection is Man Cut in Wood.