How many years has it dragged out?
By that time death also grew up
So matured that the eulogy could also give birth
A part of me that remained in that year also grew up
despite growing into a blocked website
but learned to climb over firewalls
turning over the sunken injustice of history …
Poem, in its entirety, is available in the printed version of the current issue.
Bio:
Yan Li was a member of the pioneering art group Star Painting Club and the literary group Today, both active in Beijing during the pivotal year of 1979. In 1984, he held the first solo exhibition of pioneering art in China. In 1987, he founded the New York poetry journal First Line, which ceased publication in 2000 and resumed in June 2020; he continues to serve as editor-in-chief. He is president of the Overseas Chinese Writers’ Association.
Anna Yin is a translator and Mississauga’s inaugural Poet Laureate (2015–2017). She has authored five poetry collections, the fifth in both Chinese and English. Her sixth book, Mirrors and Windows (Guernica Editions, 2021), includes her translations of the work of 60 poets (Chinese and English). Her work has appeared in Arc Poetry Magazine, the New York Times, China Daily, World Journal, and on CBC Radio.