Passages: Thirteen Contemporary Taiwan Poets

by George O'Connell (Editor, Translator), Diana Shi (Editor, Translator), Chen I-Chih

In this bilingual anthology of Taiwan's contemporary poetry, readers will find not only the subtle refinement of traditional Chinese aesthetic but the modern and postmodern, the surreal, lyric, comic, narrative, personal, pastoral, nativist, and absurdist. Taiwan's current poetry, like its history, includes many flavors, drawing strengths from near and far. Regarding the collection's translational aesthetic, German poet Hans Magnus Enzensberger's dictum remains essential: "What is not itself poetry cannot be a translation of poetry."

The initial English versions of these poems were fashioned in a semester Creative Writing Poetry Translation Workshop at National Taiwan University. Comprising thirteen students, the course was conducted by U.S. Fulbright Prof. George O'Connell and cotranslator Diana Shi.

496 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2022

Reviews

[Curtis Hu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely some gems. (Dreams of an Urn, Blindspot, Futility) Has a vague influence of traditional Chinese poems - bamboo, moons, rice paper, etc.