Twilight: Zhang Lian A Contemporary Pastoral Poet of China

Asian American / Asian Research Institute (AAARI) - The City University of New York (CUNY)

Zhang Lian is a struggling potato farmer who turned to poetry to describe the harsh beauty of his environment and his daily struggle to eke out an existence. In 2000 he borrowed money from friends to print and hand-sell his first book of poems; by 2012 he had been chosen as one of the Ten Best Rural Poets by the Chinese Writers Association and published his eighth collection. Zhangs work has appeared in more than one hundred anthologies and been translated into several languages, now including English. For this volume, noted translator Keming Liu selected one hundred poems, chiefly representing Zhangs multifaceted perceptions of his world at dusk, when farmer and shepherd are blessed with a moment to daydream. Although Zhangs work follows a pastoral tradition, the authenticity of his voice comes from real experience. His poems capture both the hopelessness and hopefulness of his austere world, and a deep belief in the redemptive power of words.