ANTHOLOGY OF TOP TEN POETS IN CONTEMPORARY CHINA

I have recently received from my friends in Romania, Nadia-Cella Pop and Dragos Barbu, this trilingual anthology of the top ten poets in contemporary China, published by The Earth Culture Press. This 130 page book has a Preface written by Romanian poetess Nadia-Cella Pop (also the book's compiler), entitled "Originality and lyrical creativity in the transition of feeling". The translation from Chinese to English is by Zhang Zhizhong (China) and other translators, and the translation from English to Romanian is by Dragos Barbu himself. 

The ten Chinese poets in question are Yang Lian (born 1955, Bern, Switzerland, but grew up in Beijing), Aerdingfu Yiren (1962, born in the Qinghai Province), Zhu Likun (1964, born in Xiangtan County in the Human Province), Diablo (1965, real name Zhang Zhi, born in Fenghuang Town in the Sichuan Province), Ma Ke (1966, lives in Ningbo, in the Zhejiang Province), Xu Jiang (1967, born in Tianjin), A Mao (1967, the only poetess in this anthology, a professional writer of Wuhan Municipal Literary Federation), Zhao Siyun (1967, born in Yuncheng County of the Shandong Province) , Wu Tou-wen (1968, born in Chenzhou, Hunan Province) and Di Bai (1971, born in Anqing City, Anhui Province) .

What does Nadia-Cella Pop write about the ten Chinese poets?

YANG LIAN - in his poetry the reader finds "the reach to the stars, colours, questions and answers or the extinction of the beloved beings and landscapes."

AERDINGFU YIREN - "The poet's self-identification with the nature's miscellaneous images, dialogue to the being he loves, placed in an area of questions that have a shining halo leave the impression of a very fine beholder who possesses the accuracy of a sharp eye."

ZHU LIKUN - "Using comparisons and usual mementos [...] makes the branches of family tree cluster and the end of this resides in a sad song, an elegy of parting that leaves the scars of deep wounds behind."

DIABLO (ZHANG ZHI) - "Fine perceptions, innocence, passions, empathy, remorses that became lyrics marking life elements, all these lead to the first colour of the rainbow's spectrum, to the heart and blood's colour, crimson and red together."

MA KE - he gives time "a peculiar resonance, not only by its passing but its shape, light and strength. He looks to the time as to a gothic architecture, wherein people and consciences must live on the same side of their feelings. It's a metaphor with a living memory."

XU JIANG - Expresses his ideas in a brief or epic form. He "has the visual and acoustic 'sensors' for the sombre side of life" and "The poet regrets the decline of many things".

A MAO - Answers the question "how to reach the ' age of electronics' starting from the original mankind's genesis". She treats her femininity and feminine problems often from the physiology and philosophy perspective.

ZHAO SIYUN - "transposes in poetry the elements of a weird reality, speaking especially about moral matters.

WU-TOU-WEN - "Reading his poems we can feel the incumbent seclusion that approaches a sadness of mind (real or fictional). 

DI BAI - He is "the poet who discovered the charm of the Sun rising over Yellow River. As the witness of a miracle, the poet spurs his sweetheart". He invites the reader to smile again after "passing the storm". 

Poetry helps different countries with different cultures come together. Thanks to this Anthology of Top Ten Poets in Contemporary China (a Chinese-Romanian project) China is once again sharing part of its marvelous cultural heritage with the rest of the world. The book invites us readers to familiarize ourselves with this big country that has had strong relations with the Western world since old ages. 

A big thanks goes to all the translators, including Zhang Zhizhong (born 1966, Boai County of Henan Province), and Dragos Barbu (born 1974), who has translated the works of various modern poets from Greece, Serbia, the United States, Mongolia, China, Brazil, Italy, Australia, Malta and Romania.

The compiler, Nadia-Cella Pop,  is a famous Romanian poetess, born in Ariusd, 1948. She is a Master of Arts in Philosophy (Babes-Bolyai University), and her poems were published in 70 titles of poetry journals all over the world (including VERSI of the Maltese Poetry Association). She has edited 35 anthologies and her poems were translated in 20 languages, including Maltese. She is author of 5 poetry books: GANDURI DE VEGHE (1997), DIN SIMFONIA VIETII (2001), AVALANCHE OVER IMPOSSIBLE (2006), THE LORDSHIP OF THE WORLD (2007) and SHIPWRECKS DELAYED (2010).