Cotton balls

Author: Wu Chenjun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: Chinese contemporary poetry has spanned nearly 30 years since the 1970s. Although the spiritual atmosphere and material carriers of each period differ significantly, the poets' works have achieved remarkable accomplishments. These achievements have directly or indirectly influenced modern Chinese, bringing about profound and significant changes. As a written language, modern Chinese has gradually matured and been refined through the efforts of several generations of poets. Over time, this will become increasingly evident. The purpose of this poetry series is to trace the lineage of Chinese contemporary poetry, systematically and valuably introducing outstanding poets and their works, aiming to fill the gap in the publishing of contemporary mainland poetry. In the 1990s, a large number of foreign literary works were introduced to China, bridging Chinese literature with world literature, during which many excellent poets emerged. Due to the collision and debate of literary concepts, people held differing views. Because of a greater focus on disputes and topics, many excellent poetic works were overlooked. The ten poets featured in this volume have diverse styles, but they all reveal an extraordinary clarity and self-respect in their attitude toward practicing poetic language and space. "The Decade Poetry Series" Volume 2 is the 1990s edition, published by Hebei Education Press, including: Yang Jian's Twilight, Yi Sha's My Hero, Lan Lan's Sleep, Sleep, Liu Ligang's Low Flight, Song Xiaoxian's Twenty-One, Wu Chenjun's Cotton Balls, Du Malan's Choir, Pu Min's Ladder of Time, Hou Ma's The Garden of the Psychiatric Hospital, and Xiao Hai's Must Bend to Pull Weeds Until After Noon. Cotton Balls collects over 100 poems written by poet and novelist Wu Chenjun from 1989 to 2002, making it Wu Chenjun's first poetry collection. The first poem in Cotton Balls is the embodiment of Wu Chenjun as a living person—his inner emotions, his values, his moral sense, his observations and reflections on the world—combined with an exuberant union of language as a symbol of beauty. In poetic creation, Wu Chenjun advocates that poetry should be close to humanity and reflect the essence of human nature. He emphasizes the importance of human emotions in poetry, stating that poets write to express emotional needs, not to treat poetry as the legacy of a poet. The language of poetry should be direct, intuitive, and heart-stirring; it should aim at feeling rather than understanding, focusing on the perception of emotions, the perception of the subject, and the perception of sentences. The publication of this book brings the poetic creations of Wu Chenjun, an outstanding poet who has long been underground since the 1990s, to full display.