Twilight
A Contemporary Pastoral Poet of China, Zhang Lian
translated and with an introduction by Keming Liu
Zhang Lian (张联) was born in 1967 into a poor
farming family in Ningxia province, a barely habitable
region of north central China bordering Inner
Mongolia. A potato farmer struggling to earn the
equivalent of about $480 per year, he turned to poetry
to describe the harsh beauty of his environment and
the daily struggle to eke out an existence. In 2000 he
borrowed money from friends to print and hand-sell
his first book of poems; by 2012 he had been chosen
as one of the “Ten Best Rural Poets” by the Chinese
Writers Association and published his eighth collection.
Zhang’s work has appeared in more than one
hundred anthologies and been translated into several
languages, now including English.
For this volume, noted translator Keming Liu
selected one hundred poems, chiefly representing
Zhang’s multifaceted perceptions of his world at
dusk, when farmer and shepherd are blessed with a
moment to daydream. Facing the “same” twilight
each day, Zhang Lian sees different colors, pictures,
and prospects, whose impressions he harnesses to
generate images that are vastly diverse. “They record
the path I trek, the scenery I see each day, my feelings
and emotions at the time, and man’s struggle to battle
hardship and achieve happiness; to ponder life, vitality,
nature, and the environment.” Although Zhang’s
work follows a pastoral tradition, the authenticity of
his voice comes from real experience. His poems capture
both the hopelessness and hopefulness of his
austere world, and a deep belief in the redemptive
power of words.
Keming Liu is professor of linguistics and literature,
and former Chairperson of English at the City
University of New York’s Medgar Evers campus. She
serves as the director of the Confucius Institute and
also director of the Sino-American International
Education Exchange Institute for Science and
Humanities. An internationally recognized translator
and scholar, Dr. Liu’s publications include Voices of the
Fourth Generation: China's Poets Today and Adult ESL: Politics,
Pedagogy, and Participation in Classroom and Community
Programs.
256 pp, 6 x 9 / Soft
Chinese Poetry / World Literature
ISBN: 978-1-891640-02-3
$19.95