DJS Books: Award Series

DJS Poetry Book Award Series
awarded in 2012 in China; published in August, 2013 in collaboration with Red Hen Press (link)

2012年度DJS诗集奖–获奖诗集系列，2013年正式出版

First Poetry Book Award winning books
Prelude序曲
By Xu Yue 徐钺
ISBN: 978-1-59709-800-7
Pages 88
$10

Empty Chair空椅子
By Wang Dongdong王东东
ISBN: 978-1-59709-801-4
Pages 99
$10

Private Life 私人生活
By Yuan Yongping袁永平
ISBN: 978-1-59709-802-1
Pages 69
$10

Second Poetry Book Award winning book
Between Words我写我不写
by Qing Ping 清平
ISBN: 978-1-59709-803-8
Pages 100
$10

DJS Poetry Book Award
Earthly Burdens: Selected Poetry 1987-2011
尘世的重负—1987-2011作品选
by Gu Gang 古冈
ISBN: 978-1-59709-804-5
Pages 127
$10

Discount: $40 for all the above five books in Chinese, which is good reference on contemporary Chinese poetry for sinologists and students of Chinese in USA as well as diaspora writers.

DJS Books, an imprint of Red hen Press, is devoted to promoting Chinese Poetry and publishing the finest work of contemporary poetry from China. See [About DJS Books] for more info.

XU Yue was born in 1983 in Qingdao, China. He spent many summers in Santa Monica after the 1989 turmoil in China and when his mother (a prominent dissident writer) was teaching at UCLA. He has suffered from depression for more than ten years. He quit college due to a breakdown and went back later to finish a degree in Chinese literature.  Currently he is working on his PhD in literature at Beijing University. He has translated Eugene O’Neill’s plays and Hart Crane’s poetry and has published a novel in 2010.

Prelude is Xu Yue’s first book of poetry. The poems were written from 2007 to 2012, highly lyrical, and with a deeply troubling voice. He reveals a different reality in his poetry where he carries an ongoing dialogue with his poetic family members such as Paul Celan. His pure lyricism is rarely seen in today’s poetry in China. Although he is not widely known due to the low key he has maintained over the years, his work is nevertheless highly regarded by the best poets in China.

WANG Dongdong, born in 1983 in Henan, central China. He established himself as a poet and poetry critic in Henen province before moving to Beijing where he is currently a doctoral student of Chinese Literature specializing in the early modernists in China in the 1930s. He has written critical essays to promote poetry of his generation in China as well as reviews of the work by other poets.

Empty Chair is Wang Dongong’s first book of poems written in the past ten years. He has been regarded as the most mature poet with sharp mind and finest craftsmanship of his generations in China. He has a unique sensitivity and brings unusual quality to his poetry. Many of the poems in this book have been highly praised by his peers as well as by older generation of poets in China.

YUAN Yongping was born in 1983 in Heilongjiang Province in the northeast corner of China. She started writing poetry in high school and continued in college. She has obtained a master’s degree in Chinese literature and is currently working as a journalist in Harbin City, the capital of Heilongjiang Province.

Private life is Yuan Yongping’s first book of poetry, the best of her poems written in the past ten years. She considers herself a failure in life except possessing this collection of poetry. Most of the poems are narratives of her daily life, observations of her surroundings, readings and thoughts. She is hoping to start a new type of writing after this collection. Some of the poems in this book won her Weiming Lake Poetry Prize in 2011 and a nomination for Southern Poetry Prize in 2010 in China. The nationally renowned poet Zhang Shuguang says Yuan Yongping finds deeper meanings in her ordinary daily life and is brave in revealing her innermost feelings. Critic Zhou Zan praises her detailed “eye” and candid tone. Poet Sang Ke says Yuan Yongping’s poetry is a rare thing in the northeast part of China.

QING Ping was born in 1962 in Suzhou, China. After he graduated from Beijing University he has been working for People’s Literature Publishing House since 1987 as a poetry editor. He edited the best known poetry series in China, The Blue Stars, which included Duo Duo, Sun Wenbo and other top poets in China. His own first poetry book was published in 2007 in the series called the Han Gardens edited by poet Zang Di.

Between Words is Qing Ping’s second book of poetry, which is very different from his first book. After 2007 he changed his style and speed. His poems have been pouring out to the internet with varied personas and tones. Poet-critic Zang Di once considered him “one of the few finest poets of our time”.  Between Words contains best of Qing Ping’s outburst during the last five years.

GU Gang was born in 1962 in the Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. He went to college in Shenzhen of Southern China and is currently living and working in Shanghai. He was editor of an independent literary journal called Zero Degree Writing. He has written over three thousand poems since 1987.

Earthly Burdens is Gu Gang’s first collection of poetry with ISBN, meaning he self-published two books of poetry without ISBN previously. Renowned poet Xiao Kaiyu praises his work and his low key in a noisy world. He states Gu Gang’s writing is unusual compared with most poets nowadays in that he restricts his imaginations within his sensual experience in the small streets of Shanghai with a language style that appears to be dull but honest and straight forward. A poet from grass-roots, Gu Gang has experimented with various styles over the last thirty years. With the publication of this book of careful selection, his work has finally caught the attention of other poets and poetry critics in China.

Blurbs for the five books:

第一届DJS诗集奖评语/推荐语

袁永苹第一本诗集《私人生活》

袁永苹善于从日常生活和个人经历中发掘诗意，大胆、深入而且真诚地袒露内心情感，并上升到普遍的境地。（张曙光）

她以一种热切的关注姿态面对周边的生活世界和日常事务，吟咏关于日 常的劳动、交谈、行路、静坐和睡眠。她的诗歌路径是“一条独自存在的小路”。它不是康庄大道，不会有成群结队的人来人往。在当下中国写作界喜好拉帮结派的 风气下，这种诗歌是不合时宜的，但对于这个时代的诗歌写作来说，这一点是十分必要的。（张闳）

王东东第一本诗集《空椅子》

王东东的诗常常将他善长的抽象力量与理性的雄辩同一种敏锐的、充满细节的直觉骤然融为一体，对不同的语言与经验界面进行了几近无可挑剔地拓扑式组合。他在当代青年诗歌群体中乃至在这一时代都显示出一种出类拔萃的意志及其创造意义的语言能力。（耿占春）

在青年诗人中，王东东似是最为早熟的一位，曾超时空般领会到诗歌的秘密。然而他也可能是最为晚成的一位。其一，因他“哲学青年”的底色，赋予他足够的耐心 与敏感，将人世万物摄入心灵的眼底，又碾拓成更为细致的黄金的织锦。其二，他如稳固的星辰般步步提升着自己，且延续着这一明证：诗是人类心智的高级产物。 （陈均）

王东东的诗里好像存在着一股强大的语言冲力，要将一个人的观察和思考引向一种诗的见证。用贵族的身份，还是用平民的身份来见证，是一个问题。而王东东更倾 向于以诗人的平民身份重新建构一种诗的见证：这种见证既回应了诗人对现实的思考，也呈现了人与世界的更丰富的相遇。(臧棣)

徐钺第一本诗集《序曲》

徐钺的诗，为我们展现了一种独特的真实。这种诗的真实基于生活的经验，也基于生活的体验，但更为难得的是，它努力协调了生活的经验和体验之间的离心倾向，它促使诗的想象力最大限度地接近生存的意义。比如，他的《酒徒自白》，虽然篇幅短小，却深刻得令人难忘。（臧棣）

徐钺的诗歌风格纯净，具有祈祷的性质。在准确勾勒经验纹理的基础上，他善于利用猝然的剪辑、跳转，营造出浓郁的象征氛围。这并不单纯源于个人的文学气质， 也包含了某种诗艺的自觉：具体写作发生于当下，同时又与曼德尔施塔姆、策兰、 特朗斯特罗姆等名字代表的传统保持对话，这也为他的文字带来一种特有的时空深邃感。虽然， 从最近的作品来看，对于其他风格、体式，徐钺一样可以驾轻就熟，但由于坚持了上述自觉，在新一代青年诗人当中，他独特的位置想必不会被替代。 （姜涛）

在徐钺的诗里，有很多高音的歌唱，书卷气的用典，毫不隐讳的自我赞颂。这样的写法需要诗人有双重的勇气，他疏离 了诗歌风气中那种振振有辞的，以稳妥低调取胜的常规；同时，也必须面对自身的挑战，因为稍有不慎，高蹈的伊卡鲁斯就会面临无处落脚的诗歌灾难。纵观徐钺这 些年的写作，我觉得他找到了自己特殊的方式，这是他写诗能够进展的秘密，也是让他的精神得以存活的实践。我只能描述这样一个场景：诗人的神经长期在自我的 熔炉里锻造，坚硬的棱角和质地已经内化在诗歌的声音中，顽强的抒情变成了一种金属疲劳，在即将断裂破碎处，创造出跃过他的诗歌主题的余响和回声，诗人发现 跟他对话的，是这个声音里受难并有望获救的人。（王敖）

清平第二本诗集《我写我不写》

清平是惯与虚无打交道的高手，精通与之搏击的技艺。 他的这些近作以远离的方式切入了这个时代内在的混乱、 伤心和悲哀，同时以全副心力在这混乱和悲哀中探索人性的可能。 他的义无反顾不断淬炼着他的诗艺，达到了新的高度。（西渡）

古冈诗集《尘世的重负——1987-2011诗选》

三十年来在诗歌界的弄潮风格之外，有一些诗人尝试找到不同的地盘，古冈就是其中一个。古冈试过多种路子，与同代人相比，他把想象局限在感觉中，视野不超出 他在上海市中心居住和工作的几条街道，因为狭窄所以显得别有用心。与同代人在更大范围里的英气逼人相比，他的迟钝诗风反而是犀利的：他直奔主题。上海诗人 如何避免江南才子的趣味性，狭窄和枯燥是一个选择，这种类型的写作不会涉嫌欺诈，制造世界至少在语言中十分精彩 的假象。文学本来就是没有意义的故事，古冈的写作证明，用诗歌代替生活，我们不但不会损失什么，甚至能直接一些。当我们从不着边际的幻觉牵扯回头，发现一 个在襄阳路低着头看长乐路的人，他就是古冈。他看见一百多年前的河水一点一点浮出街面，但并不凝结成句子。（萧开愚）