Hope everyone is having a wonderful June so far. I’m back to share some updates about my writing and translation work over the past few months. 2022 has been a really challenging year personally, but I’m amazed at all the creative work that I have been able to do this year.
Original Writing: Personal Essay, Short Fiction, Poetry
I wrote a personal essay, “Faded Poems and Intimate Connections: Ten Fragments on Writing and Translation,” for the League of Canadian Poets’ National Poetry Month blog series in April.
See below for the opening, and then check out the full essay on the league’s website.
I grew up with poetry by my side. One of my earliest memories is that of when I was three or four, bouncing up and down on a bed in the corner of my grandparents’ cramped apartment, repeating after them as they taught me the lines of Tang Dynasty verses in Sichuanese. They passed onto me so many ancient quatrains, word by word, until the poems blossomed across my tiny mind like hundreds of flower petals, each a microscopic piece of the overwhelming world into which I stumbled, nervous and wide-eyed. Here’s one of my favourite poems from those days, the one that would later become the first that I ever translated into English:
枫桥夜泊
张继月落乌啼霜满天,
江枫渔火对愁眠。
姑苏城外寒山寺，
夜半钟声到客船。Night Mooring by Maple Bridge
By Zhang JiThe moon sets, a raven cries, frost permeates the sky.
Riverside maples, fishing lanterns, asleep with heartache by my side.
Outside Suzhou City, by Cold Mountain Temple,
on my wandering boat, I hear the bells ringing at midnight.
The Asian Ghost Short Stories anthology (Flame Tree Publishing), which includes my short story “The Silence of Farewells”, was published in the UK earlier this year. It will be released in the US on June 28th for folks in North America who are waiting to pick up a copy.
My poem, “Moving, Again,” which won CV2‘s Foster Poetry Prize a while back, will be published in the summer 2022 issue of CV2 in July. I’ll post more details about the issue when it’s out for folks who are interested.
Aurora Award Finalist & Rhysling Nomination
I’m still so shocked that my poem “The Reality of Ghosts,” which originally appeared in Fantasy Magazine, is a finalist for the Aurora Award in the poetry category. I’m so grateful for all the love that this poem has received. I’m also delighted that it’s been reprinted both in the Rhysling anthology and the FOLD programme. Thank you to everyone who has read and shared this poem.
Just received my copy of the Rhysling anthology! Thank you again for including my poem "The Reality of Ghosts", originally published in @FantasyMagazine. I am so honored to have a poem nominated this year. pic.twitter.com/UAOdOsqEFM
— Yilin @ THE LANTERN & THE NIGHT MOTHS is out now! (@yilinwriter) May 31, 2022
Thank you so much to @TheFOLD_ and @jennyleeSD for reprinting my poem "The Reality of Ghosts," which originally appeared in @FantasyMagazine. I'm delighted that this poem is getting so much love this year 💜🥺 pic.twitter.com/joWCqsm4D7
— Yilin @ THE LANTERN & THE NIGHT MOTHS is out now! (@yilinwriter) May 21, 2022
Translations Work & Grant News
On the translation side of things, I have been super busy with translating the work of contemporary Chinese women poets. I’m delighted to share my translations of three poems:
- Xiao Xi’s poem “the wind would not stop” (Guernica)
- Zhang Qiaohui’s poem “The Raised Hand with the Whip Would Not Stop” (Room Magazine 45.2 Tipping Point)
- Zhang Qiaohui’s poem “Soliloquy” (The Common)
I also want to express my deepest gratitude to the Access Copyright Foundation for awarding me a Marian Hebb Research Grant, which will support my research on Chinese feminist poet Qiu Jin and allow me to prepare for a book-length translation of her poems.
Interviews
I love talking to other BIPOC writers about craft, so I was super excited to have the opportunity to interview Gillian Sze, a wonderful poet and essayist, about her new collection Quiet Night Think for The Puritan. Be sure to check out Gillian’s new book as well. It’s one of my favourite reads of 2022, and I strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the art and craft of poetry.
I’m really delighted to have been interviewed by Forbes as a contributor to their article “85 Stories That Inspire With AAPI And Asian Storytellers.”
Announcements about New Editorial Positions
As I announced on Twitter earlier this year, I have joined Tales & Feathers Magazine, a new slice-of-life fantasy magazine, as their new co-editor-in-chief. I’m so happy to be returning to editing again after taking a hiatus. Submissions are currently scheduled to open on June 30th. Please give us a follow on Twitter and send your stories our way when we open.
Furthermore, I’m so thrilled to have been invited to guest edit (alongside Joyce Ch’ng and Mia Tsai) a wuxia and xianxia-themed special issue for Strange Horizons in 2023. The issue will only happen if it’s successfully funded as a part of Strange Horizons’ kickstarter, where it’s listed as a stretch goal. Please take a look, donate if you can, and help spread the word!
