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JOSH THOMPSON
Chinese poet Xi Chuan was the Orion Visiting Lecturer this semester.
Dec 02, 2009 11:31 PM
Will JohnsonGrowing up in China, poet Xi Chuan had trouble with the idea of self. He believed he had many selves, each vying for control.
“I am a hotel of persons,” he said during his reading at Open Space Gallery on Sunday, Nov. 29. “A hotel of persons, ghosts and evils.”
Those selves were on display in a series of poems that Chuan shared with the audience, each showing different facets of the poet. Chuan has been well-known in the literary scene since the ‘80s, when he co-founded a poetry journal that was banned after only three issues under Communist China rule.
He is best known for his long prose poems, and has won many awards — including the Modern Chinese Poetry Prize in 1994 and the national Lu Xun Prize in 2001.
Chuan was the Orion Visiting Lecturer at UVic this semester.
Students, faculty and community members came out to hear him read his poems on Sunday, both in Mandarin and English.
“I’m nervous,” Chuan told the crowd before beginning, admitting he still feels slightly uncomfortable reading in English.
While the poems were powerful and beautiful, it was when Chuan spoke in Mandarin that the words really came to life. Though most of the audience may not have understood a word he was saying, the poems had a theatrical quality bolstered by Chuan’s commanding voice.
Chuan also regaled the audience with tales from China, saying his work changed significantly after he lost two friends in the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.
“I felt I did not know how to write,” he told the audience.
When he regained confidence in the early ‘90s, his work was transformed.
Chuan’s work is melancholic, but sprinkled with humor. His poems have names like “The Beast” and “Meaningless Life.” Near the end of the reading, Chuan acknowledged the dark tone.
“I’ve read a lot of dark things, I know, with absurdities,” he said.
However, he ended with a poem about Utopia, imagining a world where there is no pollution and everyone has enough money and food. It was a dazzling dream and a powerful vision of a perfect world.
At the end, Chuan simply said “thank you” into the mic and was met with rousing applause. He gave an embarrassed smile and left the podium.
UVic writing professor Tim Lilburn hosted the event, and has been close friends with Chuan for many years. He ended the reading with an interview with Chuan.
“[Chuan] is not just a great Chinese poet, but a great world poet,” Lilburn said.
UVic Writing Department Chair Joan McLeod said it was a unique experience to have Chuan at UVic.
“It’s been so great, not only for the students but also for the faculty, to have someone from the other side of the world here,” she said.
Chuan’s work can be read in the latest issue of Grain Magazine.
“I am a hotel of persons,” he said during his reading at Open Space Gallery on Sunday, Nov. 29. “A hotel of persons, ghosts and evils.”
Those selves were on display in a series of poems that Chuan shared with the audience, each showing different facets of the poet. Chuan has been well-known in the literary scene since the ‘80s, when he co-founded a poetry journal that was banned after only three issues under Communist China rule.
He is best known for his long prose poems, and has won many awards — including the Modern Chinese Poetry Prize in 1994 and the national Lu Xun Prize in 2001.
Chuan was the Orion Visiting Lecturer at UVic this semester.
Students, faculty and community members came out to hear him read his poems on Sunday, both in Mandarin and English.
“I’m nervous,” Chuan told the crowd before beginning, admitting he still feels slightly uncomfortable reading in English.
While the poems were powerful and beautiful, it was when Chuan spoke in Mandarin that the words really came to life. Though most of the audience may not have understood a word he was saying, the poems had a theatrical quality bolstered by Chuan’s commanding voice.
Chuan also regaled the audience with tales from China, saying his work changed significantly after he lost two friends in the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989.
“I felt I did not know how to write,” he told the audience.
When he regained confidence in the early ‘90s, his work was transformed.
Chuan’s work is melancholic, but sprinkled with humor. His poems have names like “The Beast” and “Meaningless Life.” Near the end of the reading, Chuan acknowledged the dark tone.
“I’ve read a lot of dark things, I know, with absurdities,” he said.
However, he ended with a poem about Utopia, imagining a world where there is no pollution and everyone has enough money and food. It was a dazzling dream and a powerful vision of a perfect world.
At the end, Chuan simply said “thank you” into the mic and was met with rousing applause. He gave an embarrassed smile and left the podium.
UVic writing professor Tim Lilburn hosted the event, and has been close friends with Chuan for many years. He ended the reading with an interview with Chuan.
“[Chuan] is not just a great Chinese poet, but a great world poet,” Lilburn said.
UVic Writing Department Chair Joan McLeod said it was a unique experience to have Chuan at UVic.
“It’s been so great, not only for the students but also for the faculty, to have someone from the other side of the world here,” she said.
Chuan’s work can be read in the latest issue of Grain Magazine.
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