Abyss

Advance galleys to Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, New Yorker, NPR Review and feature article campaign to 40 publications, including poetry, Asian, mainstream 25 copies to GoodReads and Library Thing Featured title at AWP, Boston Book Fair, Brooklyn Book Festival, ALTA. Eblasts to creative writing, Chinese/Asian Studies departments Social media campaign Potential core text for World Literature, Comparative Literature, Creative Writing courses Special to northern California and Pacific Northwest bookstores and media, where poet and translator live (Vancouver and Monterey, CA, respectively) Ads in Chinese Literature Today, Rain Taxi

A core work from the second wave of Chinese modernism by an outstanding Taiwanese poet.A seminal work from the second wave of Chinese modernism. So great is Ya Hsien's influence on younger generations of Taiwanese and Chinese writers that he is sometimes referred to simply as "The Poet." Yet he never wrote a second book after Abyss appeared in an expanded edition in 1971. This single book's variety and virtuosity have made it a modern classic and the poet something of a legend. A new documentary, "Ya Hsien: A Life that Sings," was nominated for Best Documentary at the 2015 Taipei Film Festival. Under the Barber Pole The barbers sing Always it's the same wheat-harvest festival Always an abundance of rye without ears Always it is reaped, reaped On the land of inspiration A small southern path leads to ears of grain And it's also a kind of horticultural school A kind of beauty A kind of agricultural reform A kind of taste for something other than Greek sculpture The barbers sing Ya Hsien's poetry runs the gamut from realism to surrealism, incorporating elements of folksong and modernist poetics, expressing a wide emotional range, and deftly capturing the critical spirit of the times. The sixty poems are divided into seven sections that present differing styles and themes, including "Wartime," "Songs without Music", and "Wild Water Chestnuts." The pen name Ya Hsien (his given name is Wang Ching-Lin) means "mute string." Ya Hsien lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. Award-winning translator John Balcom lives in Monterey, California.