Former Mississauga Poet Laureate Anna Yin’s Haiku workshops will combine in-person walks and virtual writing workshops focusing on building creative and resilient communities. The first nature walk starts June 25, 2022 and the workshops run throughout the summer. Please check the detail and how to register.
Luo Fu (1928-2018), a great poet of modern Chinese poetry, was born in Hunan, China. In 1954, he founded the Epoch Poetry Quarterly with Zhang Mo and Ya Xian, and served as the chief editor for many years. He has authored 37 collections of poems, and his works have been translated into English, French, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Swedish and other languages.
洛夫印象 /Anna Yin
想象中的你，
还没有从 湖南那场大雪 走出，
那剪烛的夜谈，
清瘦地倒映在我的梦里。
我的思绪还停留在
金龙禅寺 的台阶上，
日暮，晚钟，
遥远的你
沉沉不语。
如何抓住
一把湿漉漉的钟声，
还有
半盆寂寞的月光。。。
岁月不停留地攀上
厚厚叠叠的诗句，
而镜中的你
不是白衣的侠客
和归隐的山人，
那一身掩映的枫红
在如洗的日子里。
于是我不断地说，
明年回去，
再遇—
湖南那场大雪。
Anna Yin will read her poem for Poet Luofu at the above event online on May 21.
More to share:
More about Luofu’s poetry and Anna Yin’s translation:
Yan Li (poet and artist) was born in Beijing in 1954. He started writing poetry in 1973 and painting in 1979. He was a member of the pioneering art group “Star Painting Club” and the literary group “Today” in Beijing in 1979, and held the first solo exhibition of pioneering art in China in 1984. In 1987, he founded the poetry journal “First Line New York” (which ceased publication in 2000) and resumed publication in New York in June 2020, where he continues to serve as editor-in-chief. He is the president of the Overseas Chinese Writers’ Association.
《艺术外滩》专栏现场 ∣ 严力： 首次与二十一世纪共进晚餐
Poems and Paintings by Yan Li (严力) & translations by Anna Yin (appeared on an art magazine in Shanghai)
My friends–and comrade poets/translators:
Anna Yin’s editorship of Mirrors and Windows (just published), an INTERNATIONAL anthology of poems that she has translated from English into Chinese and from Chinese into English is a landmark–an exquisitely rendered, intellectual/artistic touchstone–for the continued conversation between English (Canadian) poets and those of China that she has been singlehandedly enhancing (on the Canadian side) for at least a decade now.
Anna’s Poundian contribution to our mutual enrichment is graced spectacularly by poet-publisher Michael Mirolla of Guernica Editions, who not only agreed to publish this significant volume, but has graced it with a memorably elegant, yet plain cover–like the moon-over-water that so besotted Li Po. Once again, Guernica has served notice that it is an international heavy-hitter.
We are so lucky to have this unprovincial press in our literary culture–just as we are lucky to have the pioneering, cosmopolitan sensibility of Anna Yin uniting Occident and Orient via East-West Poems in Translation (which is the subtitle).
Not to be political, I will say that I think this kind of outreach and intellectual community is urgently needed at a time when anti-Asian racism has reared its very ugly head and also at a time when Western vs. China/Russia rivalry has given rise to some pseudo-warmongering, particularly from the West.
But I don’t stress that. I stress that this book is a fine achievement. Please consider ordering copies. AND let us extend this model to other translation anthologies of other Canadian ‘multicultures.’
Blessings to Anna & Michael!
Triumphant creativity to us all!
–GEC
George Elliott Clarke
4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15)
7th Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada (2016-2017)
朋友, 诗人和翻译同仁，
安娜主编的《镜子和窗户》（刚刚出版）这部东西诗及译诗选是英译中，中译英的一个里程碑，一个精心演绎的、智慧和艺术的试金石。是她至少有十年的(在加拿大方面）英语（加拿大）诗人与中国诗人之间持续对话的一种坚持。
安娜的庞德式的奉献推进了东西文化的彼此丰富相互弘扬，得到诗人兼出版商、格尔尼卡出版社的迈克尔-米罗拉强力支持，他不仅同意出版这本重要的书，并且为它设计了令人难忘的优雅而朴素的封面– -就像让李白深爱的月之于水面。格尔尼卡再次展现一个国际重量级作品。
我们非常幸运，我们的文坛中拥有无边界的出版社–正如我们很幸运，拥有安娜的先锋性、世界性的《东西方诗歌翻译》把西方和东方结合起来（这是副标题）。
我不是要讲政治，我想说的是，我认为在反亚裔种族主义抬头的时候，在西方与中国/俄罗斯的竞争已经引起了一些伪战争主义，特别是来自西方的战争主义的时候，这种外联和知性的互通是迫切需要的。
但我并不强调这一点。我强调的是，这本书是优秀成果。
请考虑订购。让我们把这种模式扩展到加拿大 “多元文化 “的其他翻译选集。
祝福安娜和迈克尔!
祝愿我们所有人都能获取创造力的胜利!
乔治·艾略特·克拉克
第四届多伦多桂冠诗人(2012-15)
第七届加拿大国家桂冠诗人(2016-2017)
(trans by Anna Yin)
The Poets: Ayesha Chatterjee, Giovanna Riccio, Lisa Richter, Andrea Thompson, Anna Yin
The Composers, Singers, & Pianist: Emily Hiemstra, David Jaeger, Juliet Palmer, James Rolfe, Karen Usha, Gao Yuan, Mark Harry,
Hosts: George Elliott Clarke and Yang Wang (May 14, 2021)
Thank Sponsors: George Elliott Clarke, League of Canadian Poets, East and West Learning Connections.
Thank you all. These two workshops are fully booked.
Here are poems I will discuss about editing on March 20, 2021.
See you then.
Anna Yin wrote for the LCP’s the Poetry in Union – A Poetry Experience for Valentine’s Day
The following poems are that Anna Yin wrote for friends or upon requests.
Anna Yin’s Spontaneous Writing for friends on Jan 31, 2021
Anna Yin’s Spontaneous Writing for friends on Feb, 2021
Anna Yin’s Spontaneous Writing for Current events
A.F. Moritz and Anna Yin discussed poetry, translations and life experiences. They also talked about how other poets’ work had inspired their own writing. Here are videos from the event.
Main part:
Q/A part
Our first session: Poetry in Translation: Molly Peacock and Anna Yin was a great success. There were 91 people joined us. Thank you Molly, Yang and all poetry/translation lovers, book lovers for supporting. Thank the League of Canadian Poets for funding. Thanks Guerinca Editions.
Here also from Molly’s thank-you note:
The conversation between Anna Yin and Molly Peacock about poetry translation from English to Chinese launched lots of ideas, and we so appreciate your support, either in person or in spirit.
谢谢 /多謝
A partial list of over 90 Canadian and American attendees, from Boston to Maryland, from Ottawa to Costa Rica to Detroit, from Vancouver to Colorado and from New York to Toronto, with gratitude from Molly for your presence, oh poets and translators, lawyer and arborist, IT coder and actor, painter, print-maker & portraitist, financiers and fiction writers, therapists, nonfiction writers, teachers and editors–& scholar-husband:
Gary Alexander, Bernice Baeumler, Susan Boone, Cathie Borrie, Helen Bournas-Ney, Lara Bozabalian, Madeleine Brown, Amy C. Clark, Mike Curtis, Dana Delibovi, Alison Edwards, Cindy Frenkel, Davidson Garrett, Michael Groden, Rachel Hadas, Jenine Holmes, Bob Kaplan, Mary Louise Kiernan, Anita Lahey, Deena Linett, Ashley Mabbitt, Wendy Mark, Bronwyn Mills, Irina Nikolova, Dawn Hansen Pergakes, Craig Poile, Ellen Rachlin, Janet Read, Patria Rivera, Lindsay Royce, Dale Matthews Satorsky, Jane Seskin, Terrill Soules, Norman Stock, Tim Suermondt, Helen Tzagoloff, David Williams, Joyce Wilson, and Pui Ying Wong.)
Here are slides and chat file at the events.
Anna Yin is a startling dreamer. Poems that seem Romantic veer into Surrealism or Symbolism. Tutored in Sylvia Plath and William Carlos Williams, among many other poets (mainly American and Canadian), Yin issues poems that are nightmare dreams or dreamy nightmares: Here’s a world where the natural becomes unnatural, the unnatural natural: “the police-monkey escorts a well-suited rat / followed by his cloned brothers…” Some poems are parables, such as the story of a man- a father-who refuses to leave his home, even while it and others are being reduced to rubble: “I received a copy of the photo in the local newspaper. / My father looked so small on the top of the ruins. / It was titled, ‘The Last Temple.’”
In another poem, the speaker says, “You are tired of his / molding, over and over, / thrashing, nailing / into you.” There’s a fierce feminism here, reinforced by readings of Dot Livesay and Dame Atwood. Though it’s tricky following Yin’s wicked, impressionistic juxtapositions, her painterly imagery is deliciously lustrous.
Yin is endlessly perspicacious, endlessly compelling: “The autumn gusts feel warm / as if it’s spring…. / last night by accident I cut my finger… / slowly, on the rice paper, red roses grew.” She brings to Canadian poetry a sense of classicism and aestheticism and minimalism, all nicely mixed up with sensuality.
Yin’s bravura poems – so exquisite and extraordinary – merit bravo upon bravo.
Publisher’s website:
The 4th Poet Laureate of Toronto (2012-15) and the 7th Parliamentary/Canadian Poet Laureate (2016-17), George Elliott Clarke is a revered artist in song, drama, fiction, screenplay, essays, and poetry. Born in Windsor, Nova Scotia, in 1960, Clarke was educated at the University of Waterloo, Dalhousie University, and Queen’s University. Clarke is also a pioneering scholar of African-Canadian literature. A professor of English at the University of Toronto, Clarke has taught at Duke, McGill, the University of British Columbia, and Harvard. He holds eight honorary doctorates, plus appointments to the Order of Nova Scotia and the Order of Canada at the rank of Officer. His recognitions include the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellows Prize, the Governor-General’s Award for Poetry, the National Magazine Gold Award for Poetry, the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction, the Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry (US), and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award. Photo Credit of George Elliott Clarke : Harvard University.
Anna Yin was Mississauga’s Inaugural Poet Laureate (2015-2017) and has authored five collections of poetry. Her poems/translations have appeared at ARC Poetry, New York Times, China Daily, CBC Radio, World Journal etc. Anna won the 2005 Ted Plantos Memorial Award, two MARTYs, two scholarships from West Chester University Poetry Conference, three grants from OAC and 2013 Professional Achievement Award from CPAC. She performed her poetry on Parliament Hill and has been featured at 2015 Austin International Poetry Festival and 2017 National poetry month project etc. She teaches Poetry Alive at schools, colleges and libraries. Her website: http://www.annapoetry.com/
© George Elliott Clarke/Anna Yin
