Book Launch

Calligraphy by the Dalai Lama for the cover of Chinese dissident poet Jiang Pinchao's latest anthology: Poems from Exile

My good friend, Chinese dissident poet Jiang Pinchao, has compiled yet another anthology of his and other dissident poets' works. This volume is entitled "Poems from Exile." It includes the work of 42 Chinese and Tibetan poets, most of whom write from exile around the world. My thesis committee chairman, Dr. Teri Shaffer Yamada (Professor of Asian literature, CSULB Asian and Asian American Studies), wrote the intro for this volume. A friend of mine, Fanyi Yang (MA in Asian Studies, 2009 CSULB), and I translated the intro into Chinese with the help of another professor in our department: Dr. Feng-ying Ming. The book launch will be held at CSULB later this month with several notable Chinese dissidents and poets in attendance. Jiang Pinchao will be there, as will 吴宏达先生、黄翔先生、傅希秋、周锋锁 (Hongda Wu, Poet Huang Xiang, Bob Fu of China Aid Association, and Fengsuo Zhou). The launch will be in Chinese and English with poetry readings of some of the poets' work in Chinese with English translation. If any of you are in southern California, you are more than welcome to attend. Fanyi and I will be emceeing and interpreting for the event. There will be light refreshments and admission is free, but parking on campus costs $4.

Event: "Poems from Exile" Book Launch

Date: October 28, 2009

Time: 5-6:30 pm

Place: California State University, Long Beach, Karl Anatol Center (AS 110)

A foretaste:

"All of the poets represented in this anthology provide an insight into the resiliency of the human spirit and the courage required to maintain artistic integrity in the face of censorship and violent repression. They represent the power of creative expression to overcome the most crushing obstacles and the determination to make our world a better place. We are blessed by their presence and poetry. " ---Teri Shaffer Yamada, "Introduction to Poems from Exile"

"本詩集的所有詩人，都讓我們看出人心靈的適應力，以及他們面臨審查和暴力壓制時為保有其藝術創作而產生的勇氣。他們證明了創造性的表達有能力克服最壓迫人的障礙，也讓我們看見他們要改善世界的堅定決心。我們因他們的存在與詩歌受到心靈上的恩惠。" --Teresa Zimmerman-Liu 與 楊凡儀 譯

PS I will resume posting my memoirs on Sunday, October 4, 2009. The title of the next post is "You Have Joy."