{"id":5195,"date":"2023-07-24T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=5195"},"modified":"2023-08-02T10:08:04","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T17:08:04","slug":"willems-reviews-bloom-other-poems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=5195","title":{"rendered":"Willems reviews Bloom & Other Poems"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At Cha<\/em>, Nadine Willems reviews <\/a>Xi Chuan’s Bloom & Other Poems<\/em>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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 power of astonishment. In Bloom & Other Poems<\/em>, the language often takes the dislocated and jagged form of the reality that inspires it\u2014for example bringing in breaks, repetitions, parallelisms, and fragmented sentences as a reflection of the jagged rhythms of life in China.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And about the translation, she says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lucas Klein, the translator, must be credited for rendering with perceptiveness and skill the rhythms of Bloom & Other Poems <\/em>into English … the result attests to his enthusiasm for, and deep affinity with Xi Chuan\u2019s work. Although I cannot pretend to have grasped all the referents and cultural allusions of the text, I am hooked by this initiation to Chinese contemporary poetry and grateful that it is accessible in such a vivid translation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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

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 … 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":[2281],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8srwF-1lN","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5161,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=5161","url_meta":{"origin":5195,"position":0},"title":"Xi Chuan’s Bloom & and Other Poems reviewed at Poetry Foundation","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"July 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"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 Lucas Klein\u2019s translation, in a vital, brash, and, at times,\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\/2022\/04\/Bloom-cover-front-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Bloom-cover-front-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Bloom-cover-front-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Bloom-cover-front-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Bloom-cover-front-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Bloom-cover-front-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5131,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=5131","url_meta":{"origin":5195,"position":1},"title":"Bloom & Other Poems, by Xi Chuan","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"April 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Bloom & and Other Poems, by Xi Chuan, translated by Lucas Klein A rhapsodic meditation on the dreams and defeats, disparities and excesses, mythologies and absurdities of contemporary life Available now","rel":"","context":"In "Xi Chuan"","block_context":{"text":"Xi Chuan","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Bloom-cover-front-scaled.jpg?fit=801%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Bloom-cover-front-scaled.jpg?fit=801%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Bloom-cover-front-scaled.jpg?fit=801%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Bloom-cover-front-scaled.jpg?fit=801%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1370,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=1370","url_meta":{"origin":5195,"position":2},"title":"Bookslut Reviews Notes on the Mosquito","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"November 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The online literary journal Bookslut has posted Greer Mansfield's excellent review of my translation of Xi Chuan titled \"Notes on Xi Chuan\u2019s Notes on the Mosquito: Selected Poems.\" Here's an excerpt: Xi Chuan has translated Borges and even written a poem about him, but these prose poems bring to mind\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":1599,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=1599","url_meta":{"origin":5195,"position":3},"title":"Canaan Morse on Xi Chuan’s new book in Chinese","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"February 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In \"Say What You Won't,\" Canaan Morse reviews Enough for A Dream \u591f\u4e00\u68a6,\u00a0 Xi Chuan's newest collection of poems in Chinese. Morse writes: Local language allows these poems to represent their respective subjects with painful honesty\u2014not through invective, but rather through a soft, playful sarcasm that appears to be one\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":1878,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=1878","url_meta":{"origin":5195,"position":4},"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":2254,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=2254","url_meta":{"origin":5195,"position":5},"title":"Notes on the Mosquito awarded Lucien Stryk Prize","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"October 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2013 Lucien Stryk Prize went to Lucas Klein for his translation of the Chinese poetry collection Notes on the Mosquito by Xi Chuan. 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