Yang Lian is a distinguished poet associated with the Misty Poets movement and the Searching for Roots school. His early work was profoundly shaped by periods of social upheaval, infusing his unique style and deep themes with the echoes of these experiences. His poetry often delves into complex questions of identity, memory, and the quest for meaning amidst societal flux. Through his distinctive voice and literary craft, he has established a significant presence in contemporary letters.
Written between 2019 and 2021, A Tower Built Downwards is rooted in Yang Lian's living experience of the historical retrogression of Hong Kong, the disaster of Covid-19, and the global spiritual crisis, with an extraordinary cover by Ai Weiwei as metaphor for the book's content.
Themes of wisdom, modernism versus classical heritage, and the complexities of evil and suffering permeate the work of Yang Lian. This collection reflects his personal journey, particularly the profound impact of losing his mother during his teenage years, which ignited his passion for poetry. It also emphasizes love's transformative power and positions poetry as a tool for healing a world scarred by greed and conflict. Readers will find both familiar motifs and new insights that deepen their understanding of the poet's vision.
Yang Lian's most personal work to date draw ins on family photographs from the 1950s through to the 1970s when he was sent to be re-educated through labour, digging graves in rural China.
A collection of poems that are conceived and written in London, once the author's place of exile and now his permanent home.
The collection features a range of hard-to-find and uncollected works from Yang Lian's extensive career, showcasing translations from various previously published texts and anthologies. Readers familiar with his celebrated long poems will find this volume particularly enriching, as it fills in gaps in their understanding of his poetic evolution. This compilation not only highlights Lian's thematic depth but also offers insights into his unique style and the development of his literary voice over the years.
Renowned Chinese poet Yang Lian's essays and poetry are presented in English for the first time, showcasing his works from his initial years in New Zealand. The collection includes a selection of his poems and insightful essays that offer a unique perspective on life in Auckland. Accompanying comments provide context, linking Lian's experiences to broader themes in Chinese and world literature, making this collection both fascinating and illuminating for readers interested in cross-cultural literary exploration.
Before and since his enforced exile, Yang Lian has been one of the most innovative and influential poets in China. Widely hailed in America and Europe as a highly individual voice in world literature, he has been translated into many languages.
Presents a miscellany (or anthology) of poems by six poets: Arjen Duinker (Netherlands), W N Herbert (UK), Uwe Kolbe (Germany), Peter Laugesen (Denmark), Karine Martel (France) and Yang Lian (China).
Since the heady days of the Beijing Spring in the late 1970s, Yang Lian has forged complex poetry whose themes are the search for a Yeatsian mature wisdom, accommodation of modernity within the ancient and book-haunted Chinese tradition and a rapprochement between the literatures of East and West. Poetry Book Society Recommended Translation.