Yang Lian ( zh, 楊煉 Yáng Liàn; born 22 February 1955) is a Swiss-Chinese poet associated with the

Misty Poets The Misty Poets () are a group of 20th-century Chinese poets who reacted against the restrictions on art during the Cultural Revolution. They are so named because their work has been officially denounced as "obscure", "misty", or "hazy" poetry (''m ...

and also with the Searching for Roots school. He was born in

Bern german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, in 1955 and raised in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, where he attended primary school. His education was interrupted by the outbreak of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

after 1966. In 1974 he was sent to Changping county near Beijing to undergo 're-education through labor', where he undertook a variety of tasks including digging

graves A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as gravey ...

. In 1977, after the

had ended and

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

had died, Yang returned to

, where he worked with the state broadcasting service.

Early career

Yang began writing traditional Chinese poetry while working in the countryside, despite this genre of poetry being officially proscribed under the rule of

. In 1979, he became involved with the group of poets writing for 'Today' (''Jintian'') magazine, and his style of poetry developed into the

modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

, experimental style common within that group. The 'Today' group attracted considerable controversy during the early 1980s, and the initially derogatory term of '

' was applied to them at this time. In 1983, Yang's poem 'Norlang' (the name of a waterfall in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

) was criticised as part of the

Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign The Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign () was a political campaign spearheaded by conservative factions within the Chinese Communist Party that lasted from October 1983 to December 1983. In general, its advocates wanted to curb Western-inspired ...

, and a warrant was put out for his arrest. He managed to escape after a tip-off from friends; the campaign ended shortly afterwards.

Post-1989

Yang Lian was invited to become a visiting scholar by University of Auckland at Feb, 1989. Yang Lian was in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand at the time of the Tiananmen incident, and was involved with protests against the actions of the Chinese government. His work was

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

ed in China shortly after June 4, 1989, and two books of his poetry awaiting publication there were pulped. since then, he became a Chinese poet in exile in New Zealand. Yang Lian has published fifteen collections of poems, two collections of poetical prose, many essays and one big book of autobiographical prose in Chinese. He has translated all George Orwell's fiction works into Chinese (not published yet because of the censorship in China very recently). His latest book in English is The Third Shore, the anthology of Chinese – English poets’ mutual translation (co-editor W N Herbert), published by Shearsman Books (UK), and Eastern Chinese Normal University Press (China), 2013. his latest book-length poem was titled Narrative Poem, an autobiographical poems. Yang Lian has held writers' fellowships in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and has travelled broadly. Although he has retained New Zealand citizenship (1993), and later became a British citizen (2008) too. he has lived in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

since 1997, and he lives in Berlin and London now. Yang Lian was a fellow of Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin for 2012 / 2013. he is a guest-professor of Nanjing University of the Arts, The Arts College of Hebei University and Yangzhou University. Since 2014, he was invited to be a distinguished professor and a writer in residency in Shantou University, Guangdong Province, China. In 2013, he was invited to become a member of The Norwegian Academy for Literature and Freedom of Expression. Along with fellow Misty Poets, he has reportedly been nominated for the

Nobel Prize for Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

. Since 2005 he is professor at

European Graduate School The European Graduate School (EGS) is a private graduate school that operates in two locations: Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and Valletta, Malta. History It was founded in 1994 in Saas-Fee, Switzerland by the Swiss scientist, artist, and therapist, Pao ...

Saas-Fee Saas-Fee () is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland. The village is situated on a high mountain plateau at 1,800 meters (5,900 feet), surrounded ...

and artistic director of the Unique Mother TongueUnique Mother Tongue
series of international poetry-arts events held periodically in London. Since 2017, he, together with Mang Ke and Tang Xiaodu, republished the online magazine Survivors Poetr

as one of two chief editors.

Works and collections (in English)

*''Dead in Exile. a collection of Poems. Translated by Mabel Lee. published by Tiananmen Edition.(1990)'' *''Masks & Crocodile. a collection of poems. Translated by Mabel Lee. published by Wild Peony Ltd. (1990)'' *''Where the Sea Stands Still - New Poems by Yang Lian Translated by Brian Holton(translator), Brian Holton, Newcastle: Bloodaxe Books (1999)'' *''Non-Person Singular: Collected Shorter Poems of Yang Lian. Translated by Brian Holton, London: WellSweep Press (1994)'' *''YI, a book-length poem. Translated by Mabel Lee. published Green Integer. (2002)'' * ''Concentric Circles. Translated by Brian Holton and Agnes Hung-Chong Chan, Tarset:Bloodaxe Books, (2005)'' *''Notes of a Blissful Ghost. Translated by Brian Holton, Hong Kong:Renditions Paperbacks(2002)'' *''Unreal City'' (2006) *''Riding Pisces: Poems from Five Collections. Translated by Brian Holton, Exeter:Shearsman (2008)'' *''Lea Valley Poems. a collection of poems. Translated by Brian Holton and others. published by Bloodaxe Book, UK. (2009)'' *''Jade Ladder. an anthology of Contimporary Chinese Poetry in English translation (Edited by Yang Lian, W N Herbert, Brian Holton and Qin Xiaoyu). published by Bloodaxe Books. (2012)'' *''Narrative Poem. a book-length poem. Translated by Brian Holton, Published by Bloodaxe Book, UK. (2016)'' *''Venice Elegy. a sequence of poems. Translated by Brian Holton. published by Damocle Edizioni, Italy. (2018)'' *'' Anniversary Snow. a collection of poems. translated by Brian Holton and others. published by Shearsman Books, UK (2019) '' *
威尼斯哀歌, Venice Elegy, Elegia Veneziana
'. *''Translated by Brian Holton and Federico Picerni, Venice:Damocle Edizioni (2019)'' The books of translated Yang Lian's poems in other languages included German, French, Italian, Japanese, Danish, Swedish, Slovenian, Arabic, Portuguese and Hungarian...etc.

Artist's books

*''Venice Elegy: Poems by Yang Lian (Translated by Brian Holton(translator), Brian Holton) and

Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...

’s visual images, Venice: Damocle Edizioni (2018)'' This edition of Yang Lian's poems and Ai Weiwei's visual images was realized by the publishing house Damocle Edizioni – Venice in 200 numbered copies on Fabriano Paper. The book was printed in Venice, May 2018. Every book is hand signed by Yang Lian and Ai Weiwei.

References

External links

Yang Lian's website (in English and Chinese)Yang Lian
faculty profile at