Meet The Poets: Poetry Beijing At The Bookworm Literary Festival

Poetry Beijing 2
This Sunday at 2 pm at the Bookworm, as part of the 9th annual Bookworm Literary Festival, seven community poets will join two visiting writers/performers for Poetry Beijing, a celebration of verse and the power of the spoken word. But more importantly, it'll be a spotlight for this community's regular literary events and the people who run them. For example...

Announcing: Poetry Beijing At The Bookworm Literary Festival

Poetry Beijing 2015
Hello, poets of Beijing. The Bookworm Literary Festival -- one of the largest bilingual cultural events in China -- has renewed our community poetry event for this year's program, which means it's time to get writing, reading, and workshopping. Last year's event, Poetry Night in Beijing, attracted a standing-room only crowd, and we can only hope to again get that kind of support. Consider this an open call. If you're interested, read on.

The Poetry Of Foxconn Worker Xu Lizhi Before His Suicide

Xu Lizhi Foxconn suicide
A week and a half ago, the China blog of the libertarian communism website libcom.org -- Nao Blog -- published translations of the poetry of Foxconn worker Xu Lizhi, who committed suicide on September 30. As Nao notes, "By translating these poems, we aim to memorialize Xu, share some of his excellent literary work, and spread awareness that the harsh conditions, struggles and aspirations of Chinese migrant workers (including but not limited to Foxconn) have not diminished."

Things That Taste Like Purple: A Baijiu Poem, Illustrated

Things That Taste Like Purple featured image
Last September, when Literary Death Match swung through Beijing, I performed a poem called Things That Taste Like Purple about the devilry of baijiu, a.k.a. sorghum liquor (dust of the attic, wine of the gutter... with a long finish into the fetor of fragrance). Unbeknownst to me, one of my friends in the audience, the artistic and talented Amy Sands, would go on to create a series of watercolors to accompany my words. The video, which she shot, I post here with deepest gratitude and humility.

Poetry Night In Beijing: Canaan Morse

Poetry Night in Beijing - Canaan Morse
On March 16, we co-hosted an event called Poetry Night in Beijing with Pathlight Magazine as part of the Bookworm Literary Festival. Every Thursday, we'll post a video from that evening. This week: Canaan Morse, Pathlight poetry editor, reading about a childhood memory from Maine and a tribute to lobsters in reply to William De Witt Snodgrass.