{"id":5161,"date":"2022-07-15T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-15T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=5161"},"modified":"2022-07-14T20:45:32","modified_gmt":"2022-07-15T03:45:32","slug":"xi-chuans-bloom-and-other-poems-reviewed-at-poetry-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=5161","title":{"rendered":"Xi Chuan’s Bloom & and Other Poems reviewed at Poetry Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Xi Chuan’s newest, his second book in English, Bloom and Other Poems<\/em>, has only been out for a matter of days, but already it’s received its first review<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heather Green at the Poetry Foundation<\/em> writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Xi] Chuan\u2019s poetry speaks, in Lucas Klein\u2019s translation, in a vital, brash, and, at times, comic voice, paradoxically both cynical and idealistic. The collection opens with the long title poem, \u201cBloom,\u201d a lush meditation that exhorts the addressee to:<\/p>

bloom barbaric blossoms bloom unbearable blossoms<\/em><\/p>

bloom the deviant the unreasonable the illogical<\/em><\/p>

The poem\u2019s \u201cbloom\u201d describes both a sexual unfolding\u2014\u201cI want to witness your nipples blooming your belly button blooming your toes blooming\u201d\u2014as well as a broader, and, in the poem\u2019s terms, necessary, existential flourishing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

She also mentions how Xi Chuan “writes with pathos about life\u2019s contraction in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic … joking about people putting facemasks on pets … before swerving into a more serious mode”:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There have been Chinese people getting beaten up on Sydney streets for wearing facemasks, or ordered to remove their facemasks by the police in Berlin. How can the naked mouths of Sydney and Berlin understand? This is our way of life and means of existence!\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

“The thrill of this collection arises from [Xi] Chuan\u2019s charismatic voice,” Green concludes, “vividly rendered by Klein, and the unexpected turns from the intellectual to the sensual, from the absurd to the dead-serious.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Click the image above to read the review in full.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Xi Chuan’s newest, his second book in English, Bloom and Other Poems, has only been out for a matter of days, but already it’s received its first review! Heather Green at the Poetry Foundation writes: [Xi] Chuan\u2019s poetry speaks, in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[814,7],"tags":[2279,462,1654],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8srwF-1lf","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5195,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=5195","url_meta":{"origin":5161,"position":0},"title":"Willems reviews Bloom & Other Poems","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"July 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"At Cha, Nadine Willems reviews Xi Chuan's Bloom & Other Poems: Xi Chuan states that he sees himself as an artist whose medium happens to be language. To me, he is a poet of lucidity, whose experimentation with words regenerates the swirling everydayness of the world in its complexity and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=814"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image.png?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/image.png?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1878,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=1878","url_meta":{"origin":5161,"position":1},"title":"Why Notes on the Mosquito Should Win Best Translated Book Award 2013","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"April 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"This week the 3% blog is highlighting all 6 BTBA Poetry Finalists one by one, building up to next Friday\u2019s announcement of the winners. This review of Notes on the Mosquito is by BTBA poetry judge Jennifer Kronovet. It begins: When I had the chance to meet the Chinese poet\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=814"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1663,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=1663","url_meta":{"origin":5161,"position":2},"title":"Notes on the Mosquito on New Books on East Asian Studies","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"February 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Carla Nappi of New Books in East Asian Studies spoke with me (yes, me!) about my translation of Xi Chuan's Notes on the Mosquito: Selected Poems. Here's her flattering write-up: First things first: this is a book of amazing, beautiful poetry, and you should read it. In translating Xi Chuan\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Links"","block_context":{"text":"Links","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4298,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=4298","url_meta":{"origin":5161,"position":3},"title":"Lucas Klein Talking Translation with Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"November 9, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"As a follow-up to Xi Chuan's being October 2018 author-of-the-month at the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing, the Centre is now hosting a Talking Translation interview with me! They ask, and I answer: Do you have any advice for readers new to Xi Chuan about where best to begin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Links"","block_context":{"text":"Links","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":912,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=912","url_meta":{"origin":5161,"position":4},"title":"#XiChuan","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"May 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Scrounging through the series of tubes that make up the internet the other day I came across someone's Twitter feed from January, posting live updates from my event with Xi Chuan and Chris Lupke at the MLA. After the event I posted Rachel Blau DuPlessis's excellent response to \"Hearing Xi\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Links"","block_context":{"text":"Links","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":179,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=179","url_meta":{"origin":5161,"position":5},"title":"Xi Chuan Interview part II","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"October 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u00a0 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Links"","block_context":{"text":"Links","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5161"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5161"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5168,"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5161\/revisions\/5168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}