Two weeks ago I linked to part one of Paul Nelson’s SPLAB interview with Xi Chuan. Paul has recently uploaded part two, which continues to show the depth and breadth of Xi Chuan.Whereas part one spent more time on Xi Chuan’s personal history, however, in part two he discusses details from his poems “Exhortations” 箴言, “A Personal Paradise” 个人的天堂, “Ill Fortunes” 厄运 (which he reads, in English), and “Notes on the Mosquito” 蚊子志, as well as the developments in Chinese poetry since the era of the “Misty Poets” 朦胧诗人 in the ’80s. Add to this both Xi Chuan’s take on the politics of the history of Chinese and American interaction and Paul’s “American Sentence,” “A bureaucrat is someone great finding reasons why they can’t help you,” and this is clearly an interview worth listening to. Here’s Paul’s write-up:
Xi Chuan, peN
While in China for the 3rd Qinghai Lake International Poetry Festival this past August, I met one of the most renowned younger Chinese poets, Xi Chuan. He has a book coming out next year entitled Notes on the Mosquito, published in translation by New Directions. In Seattle recently to celebrate the release of an anthology of contemporary poetry from China, Push Open the Window (Copper Canyon Press) he talked about the opening in Chinese poetry after the Cultural Revolution. SPLAB Presents for the week of October 17, 2011. Part one of the interview. Part two is here.
SPLAB Presents airs Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. on KBCS.FM, 91.3, or you can listen to the interview here.