In recent years, Anna Yin has focused on translating the poetry of Yan Li. His work is uniquely profound, shaped by a strong historical imprint and marked by black humour and layered metaphors that make translation particularly challenging. Yan Li shared over one hundred poems with Anna Yin, from which she translated more than fifty. Seventeen have appeared in leading English-language journals. In November 2024, Anna Yin received written authorization from Yan Li to publish this collection. While she was seeking publishers in North America and the United Kingdom, Yan Li passed away on June 24, 2026.
In his memory, SureWay Press has published this translated collection and now make the eBook available to a wider audience free of charge. We also deposited it with Library and Archives Canada (LAC) for public access to readers and scholars in universities and libraries who are interested in contemporary Chinese poetry.
Congratulations on Breaking into Blossom, a finalist for the 2026 Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry at the Alberta Book Publishing Awards
2026 Robert Kroetsch Award for Poetry (Alberta Book Publishing Award)(Finalist)
A Review of Anna Yin’s Breaking into Blossom by Renée m. Sgroi
From Alice Major:
Anna Yin’s poems ‘breathe in two languages,’ creating a lovely tension between immediacy and distance that feels as though two points on a globe have been connected by a flight path. Her imagery is deeply sensual, compelling yet delicate. Her lines hover in our minds like the dream that “finds his own key, unlocks the door and comes inside.”
From Molly Peacock:
In her gorgeous book, Breaking into Blossom, Anna Yin’s poetry is like the interior of the abalone shell she depicts, “emerald… just shining.” Almost anything or anyone in this volume can break unexpectedly into blossom, including the poems themselves, often concluding with unanticipated discoveries. The book undulates with observations and the animated sur-reality of all kinds of exchanges, from an interview with a painter to the poet’s father’s late life words to a desperate woman stepping on a Forget-me-not. “The career of flowers differs from us only in inaudibleness,” Emily Dickinson wrote to her cousins, and Yin’s buoyant inspirations from poets across time, Li Po to Wallace Stevens, Akhmatova to Dickinson herself, give voice to subtly noticed feelings and thoughts. Anna Yin is fast becoming a Canadian treasure.
Susan McMaster for book review on driftwood June 2025 in Chinese & English
Terry McDonagh’s review on Live Encounters Poetry & Writing July 2025
Anna Yin’s “Translating I Am a Primeval River: Between Current and Voice” is featured on The Transformation Review
The editors commented: “Thanks again for this wonderful work. We both found the essay fascinating. We think the translation community will greatly benefit from the insights you have shared.” Click to read the whole essay.
This is also part of my Borderless Poetry Translation project, and Anna will continue working on further translations.
Borderless Poetry Translation: Crossing Languages, Connecting Worlds
Join us for another special Zoom conversation featuring the poetry of David Stones and Micheline Maylor, with Chinese translations by Anna Yin. Anna will also read selected from Memorial: Selected Poems by Yan Li
Together, we will explore how imagery, voice, rhythm, and cultural nuances travel across languages, and how poetry finds new expressions while preserving its original spirit.
All poetry lovers are welcome. Join us for an evening of poetry, translation, and cultural exchange.
欢迎参加新一期“无界诗歌翻译”（Borderless Poetry Translation）Zoom 线上对话。本次活动将呈现 David Stones 和 Micheline Maylor 的诗歌作品，以及由 Anna Yin 翻译成中文的版本。Anna 还将分享《纪念：严力诗选》中的译作。
我们将一起探讨诗歌中的意象、声音、节奏和文化内涵如何跨越语言的界限，以及诗歌如何在另一种语言中获得新的表达，同时保持原作的精神与灵魂。
欢迎所有诗歌爱好者参加。让我们共度一个充满诗歌、翻译与文化交流的夜晚。
Date: September 2, 2026 Time: 7:00–8:30 PM (EST)
Location: Zoom (Free admission)
To receive the meeting ID and link, please email: [email protected] with your name.
Check the whole project: Borderless: Translating Across Divides to Foster Dialogue and Harmony
We thank our sponsors: Nova Marketing Group, Sureway Press, CPAC, EAWLC, The League of Canadian Poets and Canadian poets Katherine L. Gordon and D.C. Reid.
Thanks to Queen’s Quarterly for having Kyeren Regehr interview Anna Yin on The Poet Laureate Podcast
The Poet Laureate Podcast is recorded in studio at Haus of Owl: Creation Labs—many thanks to Haus of Owl: Creation Lab and Queen’s Quarterly. I’m so glad to have been interviewed by Kyeren Regehr for the podcast!
Two great poetry events in person in April and May
Thank you new and old friends come to support this wonderful reading in Victoria, BC on April 25, 2026 . Special thanks to Kyeren Regehr, Planet Earth Poetry and Writers’ union of Canada –Anna Yin
Anna Yin attended Canada journal publication ceremony in Scarborough hosted by Subrata Kumar Das on May 1, 2026. She celebrated Canadian poets’ poems translated in Bengali with Toronto former and current poets laureate: George Elliott Clarke, Anne Michaels, A. F. Moritz, and Lillian Allen. Please feel free to check the Celebration of Bengali and Canadian Literature event on the TV channel.
East Meets West: Explore Haiku with Anna Yin
Celebrate Asian Heritage Month with this free event: East Meets West: Explore Haiku with Anna Yin, write for Mother’s Day & for Mother Earth
Free event—drop in or scan to register.
Date: Friday, May 01, 2026
Time: 2:00pm–3:00pm
Mount Pleasant Branch of Toronto Public Library
Anna Yin had a wonderful trip to Victoria last week. She was interviewed by the multi-talented Kyeren Regehr for the Poet Laureate Podcast, and read at the renowned Planet Earth Poetry alongside Phoebe Wang and rob mclennan at Russell Books.
Anna also visited DC Reid’s home, and enjoyed dinner at Lorna Crozier’s beautiful place. she even wrote a new poem which was shared on both Pancouver and TorontoSpark.
Anna Yin will be at Planet Earth Poetry reading and World Cafe Poetry interview this April
Anna Yin will visit Victoria, BC for a poetry reading and a Poet Laureate Podcast interview with Kyeren Regehr. Thanks to the Writers’ Union of Canada, Planet Earth Poetry, Russell Books, and Queen’s Quarterly for their generous support and sponsorship.
The Poet Laureate Podcast
Also thanks to World Poetry Café for scheduling an interview with Anna Yin on April 14 2026. It will be online on April 16, 2026.
Borderless: Richard Greene and Anna Yin on Cannibal Rats (April 21, 2026) to celebrate National Poetry Month
Check the whole project: Borderless: Translating Across Divides to Foster Dialogue and Harmony
We thank our sponsors: Nova Marketing Group, Triple J Canada, Sureway Press, CPAC, EAWLC, The League of Canadian Poets and Canadian poets Katherine L. Gordon and D.C. Reid.