AustLit

'Lu Xun (1881–1936) published A Madman’s Diary (1918) at the height of a Nietzsche craze in China. His creative genius, powerful intellect and writing style, and profound erudition in Western philosophy and literature, contributed to his effortlessly writing this first example of ‘modern Chinese literature’. This short story was ‘modern’ because it was written in the vernacular language instead of the classical Chinese language, it addressed contemporary issues, and it was informed by modern Western literary models.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Since 1988 Hong Ying has published six major collections of poetry, her most recent being I Too Am Salammbo, a retrospective collection of poems that she has selected and arranged in rough chronological order. As in her novels Hong Ying does not baulk at exploring female sexuality. She, as author, can only re-present the characters of her novels in accordance with how she perceives them: as a woman. However her poetry is highly personal, shedding light on her personal life, including her own sexuality and sexual experiences. Female sexuality and experiences are addressed with spontaneity and naturalness, authenticating the fact that such experiences are natural human behaviour. For Hong Ying's cult followers, her poetry is as important as her novels.

'Vagabond's release of Mabel Lee's translation of I Too Am Salammbo represents the first collection in English of one of China's most important contemporary poets. ' (Publication summary)

'This sixth volume in Vagabond’s Asia Pacific Poetry Series brings together a selection of poetry from three key contemporary Chinese poets Hong Ying, Zhai Yongming & Yang Lian edited and introduced by Mabel Lee, translated by Mabel Lee, Naikan Tao & Tony Prince and with cover art by Lin Chunyan.'

Hong Ying was born in Chongqing. Her father worked on the cargo boats plying the Yangtze. She grew up in the lower strata of society. Her poetry career started in 1988. She moved to London where she won the UK Chinese Poetry Price in 1991. She also became an accomplished novelist. 

Zhai Yongming was born in Chengdu. She was sent to work as a peasant in the countryside for two years during the Cultural Revolution. Afterwards, however, she graduated in laser technology and became writing poetry. She became a role model for aspiring women poets, as the field was dominated by men. She would travel to the United States, but returned to China to enjoy celebrity status as an installation artist.

Yang Lian was born in Bern, Switzerland, but grew up in Beijing. He emerged alongside the first wave of poets during the Cultural Revolution, extolling male sexuality. He was banned from publishing for a year, but find himself reprinted and travelled to Australia, finding international fame. He has won two significant literary prizes in Italy, and has been published in many others. 

(Publisher summary) 

'One Man's Bible is a fictionalized account of Gao Xingjian's life under the Chinese Communist regime. Daily life is riddled with paranoia and fear, and government propaganda turns citizens against one another. It is a place where a single sentence spoken ten years earlier can make one an enemy of the state.

But One Man's Bible is also a profound meditation on the essence of writing, on exile, on the effects of political oppression on the human spirit, and on how the human spirit can triumph.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.