Nianxi Chen, born in 1970 at Danfeng, Shannxi Province, began writing poems in 1990. In 1999, he left his hometown and labored as a miner for 16 years across China. In 2015, he couldn’t continue as a miner due to occupational disease. In 2016, he was awarded the Laureate Worker Poet Prize. His poetry and life were featured in a 2018 documentary entitled Demolition Work about migrant worker poets in China. Chen’s poetry book, Records of Explosion (Taibai Wenyi Press) provides lyrical documentation of the hidden costs behind China’s financial boom. Chen’s poems have appeared in Poetry Periodical, Qinghai Lake, Chinese Poetry, Shandong Literature, and Wutai Mountain. Chen’s poems [Trans. Cahnmann-Taylor & Zhang] have appeared in Tupelo Quarterly, Rattle, Plume, Pedestal, and ANMLY Magazines. Chen’s life and work were recently featured in the New York Times.
The Reed Catkins Turn White
Turpan’s Grapes are Ripe
Kant
Only a Heavy Snow Grants Our Body A Rest
Litian
