In honor of National Poetry Month 2024, two distinguished poets read and talk about form, tradition, innovation and imitation. The conversation will be moderated by Lucas Klein, translator and ASU Professor of Chinese.
Arthur Sze is an American poet, translator, and professor. Since 1972, he has published ten collections of poetry. Sze's ninth collection Compass Rose was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Sze's tenth collection Sight Lines won the 2019 National Book Award for Poetry.
Widely regarded as one of China’s most important poets, Wang Jiaxin was born in Danjiangkou, Hubei Province and was "sent down" after high school to labor in the countryside during the Cultural Revolution. When the Cultural Revolution ended, he was admitted to Wuhan University in 1978 and later worked as a teacher and editor after graduation. He moved to London in 2022 as a visiting scholar and returned to China in 2004. He is currently a professor of literature at Renmin University in Bejing.