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 26, 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.
Tag: Poetry Event
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
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.
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.
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.
Join me to celebrate 2025 Peace and Harmony through Poetry and Music project as a MicroGrant Success
Thank you to the Mississauga Arts Council for selecting our 2025 Peace and Harmony through Poetry and Music project as a MicroGrant Success. Special thanks to our sponsors—Nova Marketing Group, Triple J Canada, Sureway Press, CPAC—and Canadian poets Katherine L. Gordon and D.C. Reid for their generous support. Peace and Harmony through Poetry and Music (May–September 30, 2025) resulted in the creation of over 30 original works. More songs and videos can be viewed here.
Anna Yin received 2025 The Credits’ Cultural Heritage Award and other good news
Anna’s new poem, “Dear Sheri-D Wilson,” has been accepted by the Literary Review of Canada, a renowned Canadian magazine.
In addition, her tanka and five haiku will be featured and read in an upcoming issue of Poetry Pea Journal.
Anna has been nominated for the 2025 Civic Awards of Recognition and will attend the award night on November 18, 2025.
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
Anna Yin’s Poetry for Health and Harmony at 2025 Stratford Literary Festival
Many thanks to Heidi Sander, Melanie Kindrachuk, and Louise Liu and Stratford Public Library for making Poetry for Health and Harmony event possible. Grateful to all the book and poetry supporters who helped celebrate Ontario’s Shakespeare town with such a wonderful festival!
