Unreal City : A Chinese Poet in Auckland
Author(s): Yang Lian
Yang Lian is a celebrated Chinese poet and essayist widely known inside and outside China. He arrived in Auckland in 1989 and was there at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre. His four traumatic years in New Zealand were extremely productive and made his name internationally. This book presents in English translation a selection of poems from this period as well as a number of essays appearing in English for the first time which meditate upon the experience of living in Auckland from a startling fresh perspective. These fascinating and moving texts are accompanied by notes and an introduction which sets Yang's work in the context of New Zealand, Chinese and world literature.
ÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂIn combination the ÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂPoemsÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂàand ÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂGhost TalkÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂàwhich make up this book function like a balm or protective garment, a seamless homage to freedom and the vigilance, often so costly, necessary to maintain open societies. These are deeply felt works, lamenting least the poetÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs personal exile, ÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂthe pain unexpectedly prolonged in the nightÃÂâÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ, and greatly the wiser displacements and injustices in our world. - Takahe
Product Information
"Significantly, this book . . . argues that Auckland and New Zealand are seminal in Yang Lian's creative development as a poet in exile." --"Pacific Affairs"
Yang Lian is based in London with his wife, the novelist Yo Yo. He is a prominent figure in world poetry, is said to have been shortlisted for the Nobel Prize, and has won numerous international awards including the prestigious Flaiano International Prize for Poetry in 1999. His work is published in many languages. Hilary Chung was educated at Cambridge (MA) and Durham (MA, PhD) in England, has taught at the University of Sheffield, and is now Assistant Dean of Arts and a lecturer in Asian Studies at the University of Auckland; Jacob Edmond recently completed a doctorate in comparative literature on "The Experimental Poetry of American poet Lyn Hejinian, Chinese/New Zealand poet Yang Lian and Arkadii Dragomoshchenko of the former Soviet Union" and teaches at the University of Otago.
General Fields
- :
- : Auckland University Press
- : Auckland University Press
- : 0.209
- : 01 March 2006
- : 220mm X 165mm X 8mm
- : New Zealand
- : books
Special Fields
- : Yang Lian
- : Paperback
- : En
- : 895.1152
- : very good
- : 104
- : illustrations
- : Hilary Chung; Jacob Edmond
- : Hilary Chung; Jacob Edmond
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