I censor and seal my own opinion
without fanfare
No wind
If winds blow, I must fight against them
and scribble in silence
Making history without making a show …
* 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 in Beijing in 1979 and held the first solo exhibition of pioneering art in China in 1984. In 1987, he founded the poetry journal First Line in New York, which ceased publication in 2000 and resumed in June 2020; he continues to serve as editor-in-chief. He is the 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.