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.
Category: publishing
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.
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!
Canadian Immigrants’ Stories Exhibition
Anna Yin was delighted to visit the 8th Canadian Immigrants’ Stories Exhibition on World Poetry Day. She had the pleasure of meeting the project’s founder, Sholom Wargon, who guided her through many of the featured stories, including her own.
Please feel free to visit the exhibition or explore the project online at immigrantstory.ca. After three months in Markham, the exhibition is now on view at the light-filled Pierre Berton Resource Library in Vaughan from March to May 2026.
Borderless: Translating Across Divides to Foster Dialogue and Harmony (New 2026 Poetry Project updates)
In 2020, I led Poetry in Translation: East Meets West, a seminar series that received excellent feedback from participants and audiences. In 2021, my bilingual anthology Mirrors and Windows, featuring 59 poets translated between Chinese and English, was published by Guernica Editions and recognized by CBC as one of 45 Canadian poetry collections to watch. These projects demonstrated how poetry translation fosters meaningful cross-cultural connections.
Building on this experience, Borderless: Translating Across Divides to Foster Dialogue and Harmony brings together Chinese- and English-speaking poets, translators, and readers to explore how poetry can bridge linguistic and cultural divides. Through collaborative workshops and dialogues, participants will translate and discuss selected poems, gaining deeper insight into each other’s languages, traditions, and perspectives. The project will culminate in a bilingual anthology (digital and/or print) celebrating poetry’s power to connect communities.
The project has received financial support from previous sponsors, including D.C. Reid and Katherine L. Gordon, the League of Canadian Poets, Chen Jie (President, Triple J Tax), and Zelko Odorcic (President, Nova Marketing Group Inc.), with in-kind support from East and West Learning Connections and CPAC.
Drawing on my experience as Ontario Representative for LCP and Mississauga’s Inaugural Poet Laureate, as well as my past collaborations, I have secured participation from over 40 accomplished poets from Canada and China, including Armand Garnet Ruffo, Alice Major, Molly Peacock, Richard Greene, Micheline Maylor, Yvonne Blomer, Rayanne Haines, David Stones, Kyeren Regehr, Lorna Crozier, Kate Rogers, Bruce Hunter, Bänoo Zan, Yan Li, Yen Ai-Lin, Lo Fu, and Yang Lian. Several participating writers, including Richard Greene, Keith Garebien, Pratap Reddy, Andrea Josic, and myself, are based in Mississauga. Together, we will foster dialogue, knowledge-sharing, and collective wisdom across cultures.
An online dialogue with Richard Greene, hosted by me, supported by East and West Learning Connections, was scheduled for April 21, 2026, followed by additional online conversations or in-person workshops and readings.
BTW, I would also like to celebrate that our 2025 Peace and Harmony through Poetry and Music project has been selected as a MicroGrant Success. Thank you to everyone who contributed to making that project meaningful and memorable.
Anna Yin, updated on April 30, 2026
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.
New song to remember Jane Goodall, other songs and book reviews
This Thanksgiving day we want to thank Nova Marketing Group, Triple J Canada, Sureway Press, poets Katherine L. Gordon and D.C. Reid and Mississauga Arts Council for sponsoring Poetry and Music project. Although this project is completed, Anna Yin continues to write more lyrics. Here we share some of her new songs and news.
This Thanksgiving I wrote this lyrics to remember Jane Goodall.
Peace and Harmony through Poetry and Music – Highlights & Summary
Anna Yin made the video to summarize the Poetry and Music project with heartfelt thanks to all sponsors for making this possible: Nova Marketing Group, Triple J Canada, Sureway Press, poets Katherine L. Gordon and D.C. Reid, and above all, the Mississauga Arts Council with RAMA Gaming Centre through the Mississauga Charitable Gaming Association. #poetry #music #projects #peace #harmony
Two performances recorded in a park and new poetry events/workshops with Anna Yin in Sept, See you there
Sept 6 – Open Mic at Cineplex Junxion, Erin Mills Town Centre
Sept 13 – Book Fair Central Library, Mississauga (Book exhibition)
Sept 26 – Stratford (Poetry for Health and Harmony)
Sept 27 – Peel Art Gallery, Brampton (Haiku Workshop with Anna Yin)
My Accent and Breaking into Blossom (Poetry and Music update)
We tried a few poems with music at MAC studio. Here is one of the videos Anna Yin made. Thanks Mississauga Arts Council. Check our other samples.
This Poetry and Music Project is proudly supported by our sponsors: Nova Marketing Group, Triple J Canada, Sureway Press, Mississauga Arts Council , and Canadian poets Katherine L. Gordon and D.C. Reid. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all of them!
