Sunday Sparrows

Song Lin’s poems explore his sojourns in several countries, the natural world, and his own inner landscape. While his work is rooted in both contemporary and classical Chinese poetry, he incorporates into his poems American, French, and Latin American literary traditions.Jami Proctor Xu is a poet, translator, and artist whose poems appear frequently in journals and anthologies in China and the US. Her full-length collection Suddenly Starting to Dance was published by Yi Press in 2016. In 2013, she received the Zhujiang Poetry Award, which recognizes a non-Chinese poet who has made a major contribution to contemporary Chinese poetry.

“Jami Proctor Xu’s exceptional translation of Song Lin’s lyric landscapes magically captures the poet’s original mind, offering readers an authentic experience of one of our generation’s great writers. A book to savor.” —Ari Larissa Heinrich, translator of Qiu Miaojin’s Last Words from Montmartre “Translation as poetry. That is the excellent way Jami Proctor Xu presents poetry by Song Lin. The impact of warm breath on my skin is an imprint forever. One will never forget it or erase it. Word as touch. Quivers as memory does. Meaning as forever. And forever will never wait since it is always with us. Song Lin’s poetry flows from subterranean regions of the poet’s awareness as well as from his subconscious. Poetry verbal and lyrical sing and ring as ethereal and material voice. Laughter and chuckles, and smiles, utter sadness and quiet reflection, and serene observation coexist with empathy. Poetry is awe, and it is wonder.” —Simon J. Ortiz