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QINGDAO TODAY
在线翻译:
szdaily -> Culture -> 
Huang Huibo: Chinese poet makes poetry a force
    2018-09-27  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

Bei Xiaojin

568553076@qq.com

WHEN I decided to translate “Rice and Fire,” a poetry collection by Chinese poet Huang Huibo, I knew almost nothing about the writer. When I began doing background research on Huang, I was surprised by his uniqueness. And after talking to Huang face to face for a few hours, I got the feeling that a real poet was back. Yes, these characteristics are what I think make a poet: true and simple, warm and calm, full of love and curiosity for a dull life and even a sometimes boring world.

On July 6, 2016 at the Beijing Museum of Modern Chinese Literature, Huang received the fifth Guo Moruo Poetry Award presented to him by periodical Chinese Writers. But the first sentence of his acceptance speech made people laugh. “I’m sorry, I know almost no one here except my wife,” he said. This fact may actually be a “sorry” for China’s literary world today.

In November 2017, the award ceremony for the 100 Most Powerful Poets Award of the Centennial (1917-2017) of Chinese New Poetry was held in Beijing, and the Ten Best Contemporary Poets Award of China was handed out in March 2018 in Zhouzhuang, a famous water town in Jiangsu Province. Huang said, “For decades, I have not been ‘hot’ in the poetry circle when poetry became popular. Nor have I been ousted in the circle when the frenzy for poetry cooled down.”

During the Qingming Festival in April 2017, a poem by Huang in 2005, “Dedicated to Mother,” suddenly went viral in China. But he was lying in a hospital bed recovering from a surgery in peace then, as if his work’s newfound fame had nothing to do with him. In fact, he didn’t even know how to use WeChat when he became an overnight Internet sensation.

Most poets start writing poems at a young age and have their own poetry collections very soon, but not Huang. He had his first poem collection printed in January 2013, 30 years after he began writing poems. The collection is called “Rice and Fire” and is the one I chose to translate.

He continued to publish “Autumn Friends” in January 2014, “Distant Autumn” in August 2015, “Autumn Ask” in December 2016 and “Autumn Road” in December 2017. I would say the high production is due to his deep understanding and long-time admiration for poetry.

“I only work and live, without considering poetry. But poetry is like the blood flowing in my vessels. I don’t have to control it. It flows naturally,” he said.

The most poetic things he’s ever said is “Poetry cannot bring fame and wealth. But in my eyes, all the fame and wealth in the world don’t necessarily make a person who really loves poetry feel as good about life as a poem does.”

Maybe I can’t translate every one of Huang’s poems correctly, but I would use the word “rebirth” to describe the meaning of his poem “The Soul of a Poet” to me. Poetry is a place to keep our hearts alive, a call of strength, a distant comfort. This is the power of poetry. Those poems with “the power of life” will become a strength to support people through hardships, lending them a tender yet persistent spiritual support.

To me, Huang’s poems are powerful. The power is not artificial, but straightforward, fresh, natural and easy to get, like grass growing on a river bank. First of all, this power is “real” in his poems, that is, the content is rich, the structure is complete, and some poems, like stories, lead people to meditate and share his joy and sorrow. His poems “Exploring the House After Rain” and “Warrior’s Heart” best exemplify these characteristics.

Second, this power comes from the “truth” in his poetry. Affection and friendship are common topics of his poems, such as “Sending Children to Travel” and “Farewell to the Ground.”

Thirdly, this power comes from the “warmth” in his poems, which are full of positive energy. Huang’s poems are a record of his times, from realistic to poetic. To me, the warmth in his poems is more precious than what the flamboyant style of writing can offer.

When I finished reading Huang’s five poetry collections, the image of a passionate walker and lonely thinker appeared. I began to feel that poets and poetry are coming out of an ivory tower and showing their concern for others, nature, and the destiny of mankind. Let poetry become a force — this is the starting point of my journey on translating Huang’s poems.

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