Best New Zealand Poems goes bilingual

BNZP 2014 has been published in a ground-breaking English-Chinese edition.

Huang Lihong performing a Chinese tea ceremony at the launch.
Huang Lihong performing a Chinese tea ceremony at the launch of Best New Zealand Poems 2014 in its bilingual edition
Left to right: Designer Ya-Wen Ho, Wen Powles, translator Yujing Liang, Dr Luo Hui and Dr Sydney Shep.
Left to right: Designer Ya-Wen Ho, Wen Powles, translator Yujing Liang, Dr Luo Hui and Dr Sydney Shep.

On Tuesday 15 March a ceremony was held at Victoria University's Wai-te-ata Press to celebrate the publication of Best New Zealand Poems 2014 in a ground-breaking English-Chinese bilingual edition. The ceremony featured a tea ceremony, calligraphy, and a reading of Peter Bland's poem, 'Locality' in English, Cantonese, Mandarin and Hunan dialect, recreating the ambience of a traditional Chinese literary gathering.

This is the first time that the Best New Zealand Poems series, selected and published annually by the International Institute of Modern Letters, has been translated in full into a foreign language. The publication of 25 contemporary New Zealand poems in Chinese will raise the profile of New Zealand literature in China and in New Zealand's diverse Chinese communities.

Poet and IIML lecturer Chris Price was among the featured poets at the launch.
Poet and IIML lecturer Chris Price reads Peter Bland's poem 'Locality' at the launch.

The project, initiated by the New Zealand Centre for Literary Translation, received financial support from the Confucius Institute and creative input from the IIML and Wai-te-ata Press. Both Yujing Liang, the translator, and Ya-Wen Ho, the book designer, are postgraduate students at the School of Languages and Cultures. A collaboration across languages and disciplines, the book exemplifies Victoria University's commitment to cultivating creative capital and building links with the Asia-Pacific.