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Illustration: AI i am a worker, the only tree forgotten in a burning forest cheapest item of accounting records the saint who is locked by the doors in the age of entering and exiting with passwords god doesn’t know anything about these days i am a worker, can’t start my life with the question i choose they forced me plucking big bud roses to make soaps, cutting sycamores for shadeless benchs, drying the rain for a steppe, ripping out my soul to make myself a spare part i am a worker, who only resurrects on weekends and dies every monday again penny lost in accounting records god doesn’t know that my every day is monday Mustafa Seyfi (1991, Karşıyaki, Izmir) is a contemporary Turkish poet and writer known for his socially engaged and emotionally resonant poetry. His work often explores themes of labor, identity, alienation, and the struggles of the working class, expressed through vivid imagery and powerful symbolism. In addition to his poetic output, he is actively involved in the Turkish literary scene as an editor, contributing to various online and print literary platforms. Mustafa Seyfi's voice stands out for its sincerity and commitment to reflecting the hardships and hopes of everyday people.

“Tower of Light”: First Poetic Fairy Tale Inspired by Burj Khalifa Now Published in Hindi by Ukiyoto Publishing June 2025 – Dubai / Hyderabad  — Ukiyoto Publishing  is proud to announce the Hindi-language release of Tower of Light , the first poetic fairy tale inspired by the iconic Burj Khalifa, written by award-winning author and poet Ana Stjelja Gad. The publication coincides with the 20th anniversary of the world’s tallest tower, celebrating it not just as a symbol of architectural achievement, but as a metaphor of human aspiration and inner light. Originally written in English and now available in Hindi, Tower of Light  reimagines the story of Burj Khalifa through the lens of lyrical fantasy and spiritual allegory. Blending elements of myth, mysticism, and poetic vision, the book tells a fairy tale of elevation — both literal and metaphorical — inviting readers of all ages to explore the tower not only as a physical marvel, but as a journey toward clarity, hope, and transcendence. Set against the backdrop of the United Arab Emirates, a land where tradition meets innovation, Tower of Light  follows a dreamlike narrative that reflects the inner transformation of its protagonist as they climb toward light, wisdom, and the realization of their true self. The book’s poetic structure and rich symbolism make it an enchanting read for lovers of literature, architecture, and metaphysical storytelling. Ana Stjelja Gad, a Serbian writer, editor, and cultural researcher based in Dubai, is known for her creative blend of poetry and narrative, often infused with themes of healing, mysticism, and intercultural dialogue. With Tower of Light , she adds a unique and imaginative contribution to global literature inspired by landmark architecture. The release of the Hindi edition aligns with Ukiyoto Publishing’s  mission to promote diverse voices and stories across languages and continents. The book is now available for order through Ukiyoto’s platforms and affiliated retailers.

The Debut Of Cao Shui's Translation Book "The Golden Bird In The Sun" And The Signing Ceremony For The Translation Of Five Books Including "The Epic Of Eurasia" Were Successfully Held In Beijing On June 20th, during the 31st Beijing International Book Fair, the debut ceremony of Cao Qunxin's translated book "The Golden Bird in the Sun" was officially held at the Shanxi exhibition area of the National Convention Center. At the same time, the "the Belt and Road" two-way copyright exchange meeting was held. This event is guided by Shanxi Publishing and Media Group and hosted by Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House. Dong Runze, Deputy Director of the Publishing Business Department of Shanxi Publishing and Media Group, Dong Libin, President and Chief Editor of Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House, Song Wei, Deputy Chief Editor of Shanxi Science and Technology Publishing House, Liu Wenfei, Deputy Chief Editor of Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House, Cao Shui, Chinese Coordinator of the BRICS Writers Association, Asian Coordinator of the World Poetry Movement, and Chinese translator of "The Golden Bird in the Sun", Wang Tong, Assistant to the former President of "Beijing Literature" and famous poet, Zhang Jianjun, Executive Chairman of the Beijing International Poetry and Film Festival, and Han Lanna, a representative of readers, attended the event on site. The Golden Bird in the Sun selects two hundred short poems by Vadim Terekhin. These poems attempt to explore the eternal meaning behind everyday phenomena and elements. Vadim's poetry inherits the great Russian lyrical tradition created by Alexander Pushkin, and can be seen as insightful aphorisms of the golden age of Russian literature, as well as intricate symbols of the silver age of Russian literature. In the era of globalization, his poetry has a strong inclusiveness towards both Eastern and Western civilizations, guiding readers with love and justice. Liu Wenfei gave the opening speech for this event, praising both Vadim Terekhin and Cao Shui as excellent poets who are at the forefront of world poetry creation. And it is stated that in 2023, Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House will collaborate with the Southern Publishing House of the Cuban Writers Association to launch the first phase of the "Excellent Chinese Book Public Welfare Reading" project through the Spanish copyright export of Cao Shui's poetry collection "Epic of the Eurasia". In 2024, Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House and Cao He jointly planned the World Poetry Future Symposium, which received widespread attention from the literary and media circles at home and abroad. This is an important achievement of our company in establishing a "circle of friends" for overseas famous artists and works. Vadim Terekhin expressed gratitude to translator Cao Shui and publisher Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House in the video, pointing out that the successful publication of "The Golden Bird in the Sun" can strengthen the friendship between China and Russia. He said, 'On behalf of all Russian writers, I would like to extend greetings to you and wish you all great success at the Beijing Book Fair.'. I would also like to express my special thanks to my poetry translator, Chinese poet and public figure, my good friend Cao Shui translated my book "The Golden Bird of the Sun" into Chinese and helped publish it, as well as the publisher and everyone involved in this project. I hope to publish this book and exhibit it at the Beijing Book Fair, which will help us better understand each other, provide opportunities for further cooperation, and contribute to strengthening the friendship between China and Russia. Thank you for your attention! Wishing you love, health, and creativity! Long live the friendship between Russia and China! At the event, Cao Shui and Wang Tong discussed Vadim's poetry creation and the international perspective and aesthetic characteristics of Russian poetry as a whole. Cao Shui said that Russian poetry reflects a wide absorption of world culture and the integration of unique national characteristics, forming an artistic style that combines philosophical depth, formal innovation, and cultural tension. Vadim's poetry reveals a call for goodness, justice, and freedom, and his creations are crossing the boundaries of time and space, connecting people from different countries and ethnicities closely. Wang Tong added that Vadim had studied rocket related professional knowledge and worked as an aerospace engineer. He used space as a carrier to project humanistic emotions, and reading his poetry was like the 108 minute experience of Gagarin's first space flight. The organic combination of space exploration and world poetry formed a unique interstellar lyrical style. Vadim's poem "The Golden Bird in the Sun" was written during his visit to Sanxingdui, China in 2019 for the "Golden Ornament of the Sun God Bird". It is a witness to the exchange of civilizations between the two countries, and Wang Tong spontaneously recited this beautiful poem on site. Cao Shui gave a speech at the scene titled 'Chinese poets should understand the writing styles of poetry from various countries around the world, not just Western works from a hundred years ago'. Cao Shui said：Nowadays is an era of world literature, and the poems that Chinese poets often talk about, such as Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, and Rainer Rilke, are all poems from a hundred years ago. This is the writing style from a hundred years ago and is only limited to Europe. We do not deny the classic nature of these poets, but we should pay more attention to contemporary poetry trends and the poetry of the wider five continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Oceania. This is also the starting point for my translation of contemporary poets from various countries around the world, which must be based on the works of active poets from different countries in contemporary times. Last year, I translated the Song of the Dream Land by Fernando Rendon, the great Latin American poet, and this year, I translated the Golden Bird in the Sun by Vadim Terekhin, the great Russian poet. This time, I signed the contract, including the Footsteps of Istanbul by the famous Türkiye poet Nurduran Duman, the Song of the Knight by the famous Italian poet Lamberto Garzia, and the Manseerah (Epic of Human) by famous UAE poet Adel Khozam. I thank Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House for having such a great mind. We can continue to launch this translation series. Cao Shui also said： Chinese poets face two major obstacles when entering the world: language and thinking, which require a systematic understanding of world civilization. My Epic of the Eurasia has been translated into English by American poet George Wallace, into Italian by Italian poet Lamberto Garzia, and is currently being translated into Spanish by Cuban poet Yasef Ananda and Chilean poet Roberto Aedo. Egyptian poet Ashraf Aboul Yazid is also translating into Arabic, and translations into Russian, Korean, and Bengali are also under negotiation. Because this book is not an epic of a nation, but an epic of the Eurasian continent, the birthplace of human civilization. It aims to narrate the history of humanity from Babylon, westward to Canaan, Egypt, Greece, eastward to Persia, India, and China, with the theme of 'humanity is of the same origin, the world will go to the same place'. We need to reintegrate Chinese civilization into the entire world civilization system, which is the civilization of all mankind. World civilization is like a big tree. Babylon, Persia, India, China, Canaan, Egypt, and Greece are the seven roots that grow together to form this towering tree of world civilization. Only by understanding world civilization in such a structure can poets of all humanity "share emotions" and "cultural transformation" come naturally. Poets from all over the world will actively participate, and the construction of world literature in the future will be built on this basis. A poetry film based on Vadim's poem 'Autumn Colors' was played during the event. Zhang Jianjun mentioned that the Beijing International Poetry Film Festival is the world's first international cultural event that focuses on the integration of poetry and film. Its aim is to explore the path of poetry visualization, visually present the artistic conception of lyrical poetry through language, promote cross-border innovation between poetry and film technology, build a global dialogue platform in cross artistic forms, and become a new carrier for Chinese culture to go global. The 108 minute Space Poetry Festival in Russia is jointly organized by the Russian Space Agency, the BRICS Writers Association, and the Russian Writers Association. The 6th award in 2025 was won by Chinese poet Wang Tong. At the end of the event, Cao Shui presented the certificate to Wang Tong on behalf of the BRICS Writers Association. Wang Tong delivered his acceptance speech: I feel very honored to be awarded the "Russia 108 Minutes" Space Poetry Award. This is not because I only received this award, but because it is very familiar and fitting for me, the author known as the 'space poet'. Think about it, what a dream it would be to be able to fly for 108 minutes with the first astronaut Gagarin, accompanied by poetry! Especially since the award was presented to me by the Russian Writers' Association on behalf of Mr. Cao Shui, the Chinese Coordinator of the BRICS Writers' Association in China, I have a vague sense of space romance. In my trilogy on space, I mentioned Gagarin multiple times. He was not only the first person to touch the universe, but also a pivotal figure at the turning point of human civilization. I feel particularly happy about this. Chinese culture needs to connect with world civilization, just like a spacecraft connecting to a spacecraft, with the stars and the sea below. The on-site also showcased the bilingual version of "Language and Soul: A Collection of Russian Chinese Literary Works" published by The Four Publishing House in Russia. The book, edited by Alina Rodniakova, includes the works of 40 representative contemporary Russian writers and poets, which is also a witness to Chinese Russian literature and friendship. In the exploration and practice of the global dissemination of Chinese culture, Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House has been selected as one of the "Top 100 Influential Publishers of Chinese Books Overseas Collection" for ten consecutive years, and has established cooperative relationships with writers and publishers from countries such as the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, Egypt, and the Republic of Cuba. In recent three years, more than 50 kinds of copyrights have been exported, covering English, Russian, Arabic, Italian, Japanese, traditional Chinese, etc., and cooperative editorial departments have been set up in Italy and Taiwan, China, China. The World Poetry Movement is an international alliance of poets dedicated to promoting global cultural exchange and peace building in poetry. It is jointly initiated by the leaders of 37 international poetry festivals, advocating for the protection of global linguistic diversity and calling for the construction of a "human poetic community" that transcends ethnic barriers. Currently, its members cover 135 countries. The event first held an Italian copyright export ceremony for Cao Shui's original poetry collection "Epic of the Eurasia". Giuseppe Conte stated in his speech that Cao Shui's poetry, through a speculative language that combines romanticism and epic feeling, depicts epic elements such as mythology, history, and intelligence, and has reached the realm of Dante and the artistic height of the Renaissance. Italian translator Lambert Gazia stated that it is expected to translate and publish the work by the end of 2025 or early 2026, and recited two excellent poems included in the work in Italian. Cao Shui demonstrated the phased translation achievements of the Italian translation on site and explained that his epic vision in poetry writing is to speak out for human freedom and dignity, and bring practical hope. The epic of the Eurasia has also recently achieved Arabic copyright export. The translator of this text, Ashraf Aboul Yazid， highly praised Cao Shui for creating a modern epic that transcends civilizations, has stated plans to include the Arabic translation of the poetry collection in the "Egyptian Silk Road Literature Series". This translation project represents the cultural integration between the ancient civilizations of China and Egypt, and also expresses the beautiful expectation of human unity and the creation of spiritual prosperity. The significance of two-way communication lies not only in the "going global" of excellent Chinese culture, but also in seeking to "introduce" outstanding cultural achievements from around the world. At the meeting, there was also a ceremony to authorize the translation of three poems: "The Footsteps of Istanbul" by Nurduran Duman, "The Song of the Knights" by Lamberto Garzia, and "The Epic of Humanity" by Adel Khozam. All three poets expressed their love for Chinese culture and their joy in having their works translated and published in China during their speeches. Cao Shui, as the translator of the three works, signed a translation authorization letter on site and presented it. At the end of the event, a translation preview of the Chinese version of "Epic of Humanity - Great Epics from Around the World" written by UAE poet Adel Khozam was held. This collection of poems will gather works from 86 poets from around the world, making it an unprecedented attempt at world poetry creation. Adel Khozam created the opening and Cao Shui created the ending, and the Arabic version was first released in Beijing last year. The "the Belt and Road" initiative has set up a broad stage for cultural exchanges. Copyright exchange, as an important component of cultural dissemination, has immeasurable value in promoting the development of world poetry. Copyright exchange between countries along the "the Belt and Road" can not only promote the dissemination and sharing of excellent poetry works, but also enhance the aesthetic interests of people around the world and enhance friendship. Through friendly exchanges between copyright export and import, we can appreciate more poetry masterpieces from different cultural backgrounds and feel the unique perspectives and emotional experiences of poets from different countries. This cross-cultural exchange can not only promote the prosperity and development of world poetry, but also provide channels and innovative ideas for publishers' planning, marketing, and other work. Modern poetry is the core publication category of Beiyue Literature and Art Publishing House. It is believed that through the establishment of platforms such as the public interest reading project, copyright exchanges between countries along the "the Belt and Road" will continue to deepen and contribute more wisdom and strength to the prosperity and development of world poetry.

Illustration: AI I Came across a Small Rice Field in Dongguan Between the toes of factories short-stemmed rice plants clutch at the last bit of dirt Their root-anchors uncurl tiredly Outraged hands     wanting to scratch birdsong and cricket call from the mud In a patch of gleaming sunlight I saw rice-plant leaves shrug like shrugged shoulders The spikes of rice grew quickly The grains were in milk     They smiled faintly in the summer breeze talking to me All of a sudden, emerging from the deafening, impulsive ocean/oceanic din of notions** I wrung myself dry like a white shirt Yesterday, I would never have guessed that in Dongguan I could have come across a small field of rice The yellow-green spikes continued to sway through moments both happy and sad May 2001 Tr. by Simon Patten Summer Time Change Ahead of time trains depart Girls mature Ahead of time candles are blown out That adorn their birthday cakes And in a well-schemed murder A knife goes in white And comes out red Ahead of time Yet chicks refuse to crack their shell The moon fails to light the sky At nightfall Yet a realist writer jogging in the morning street Has been killed by the first bus Which was running off schedule So black humor and the absurdist school Can at last be understood   And the guy going for a date in the old place At the old time has met another girl The deceased—having just been cremated— Has the wrong time listed on his certificate And men stand bewildered over the theft Of an hour of sun and air Is time fair? 1989 Tr. by Cao Sheng & David Axelrod Silverback ( To Judyth Nsababera)            In Uganda,   the silverback’s back,   like a blade hidden in the wooden drum,   slices through the scorching, soaked savannah. Under the equator’s burning copper,   the leaves of Bwindi brush it,   it beats its chest —   a body forged in iron,   striking ancient, echoing thuds,   and birds shatter into stars. The silver glint on its spine,   like dawn cracking,   pulls the far-off hills down to silence. In Guangzhou’s crowded streets, Judith Sambabera,   smiling, her eyes and the silver flicker,   like the King, firm and gentle. Her gaze and his meet,   quietly swaying,   gentle, but with sharp edges. A balance of strength and softness,   Of might and beauty,   the Kong’s chest,   every muscle a thick slab of power,   while her eyes,   like waves across a lake,   still the whole world —   just for a moment.   translated by  Weina Dai       (翻译：戴潍娜)                 February 10, 2025. Six-dimensional Space Before the galaxy’s genesis We lived in merely three-dimensional space Like floating motes of dust A circle is drawn around the horizon, And those who walk in the middle Circulate tens of thousands of volumes of poetry; Cultivate the treadmarks of the wheels of language Enter the two-dimensional dreamland Where still scenes slowly float Dark matter flies through space Creating a multitude of interfaces with the cubic world High technology flies into space Making new starting points with prehistoric powers Four-dimension space has been pierced but Has one more time axis; The spiritual screw, has something to do with the distortion of power Outside is another, parallel, universe Or superimposed unlimited starry sky When divine consciousness has evolved with the ability control the human mind All things on earth instantly Open the valves of the tunnels of time and space Shuttle between the past and the future Six-dimensional space exists in the movement of time It seems to be entering the energy room of space The axes of coordinates suddenly disappear The hidden super chords are playing The symbols beyond alignment, until the symbols change Is there time outside time, beyond black holes? 17.05.2021 Translator: Lu Wenyan, Emma Nortfods Who Can Tell Me the Postcode of Shimao As I enter Yindu, I want to write to a beautiful girl there. There was no written language over 2,400 years ago, Even the oracle poems cannot carve my deep love. She was in Shimao on the eve of civilisation, When the ruins were not yet ruins Were there any orangutan longcalls from inner Weng City posting to outer Weng City? Going through ancient maps, all the words were rare Like code. It did not matter if she did not understand Like myself, now I cannot understand these colourful painted geometric patterns There are 48 skulls, most of them were sacrificed teenage girls Were they the beautiful girl’s sisters, or her great, great grandmother? At that time, everything was shadowy, hidden in cloud and fog, Even the legend Shen Gongbao, a thousand years later Had a leopardine forehead and truthful, round eyes, so it was not hearsay. The wind blew away the naked yellow earth And at once a lone city appeared The wide stone path leads to the city control tower, I avoid the wooden structures On the stone walls, I walk into her stone-paved courtyard and Leave from its front gate. It is China, The Middle Kingdom, The Divine Land Before Christ, even before the invention of written language Whether she was the ancestor of the Oracle or the Book of Poetry Or the barbarians who emigrated and vanished I posted my letter to Weng City, where the dynasties pursued their easy prey The stone sculptures and jade figurines all have high noses and deep-set eyes I arrived in Shenmu, Shanxi, but could never Arrive in her Shimao. The undulations of the landscape Imply psychological continuity, But it does not matter whether I post the letter or not. Shimao has always been there, but perhaps she is only in my dreams. 04.06.2021 Translator: Lu Wenyan, Emma Nortfods 译者：陆文艳, 艾玛·诺芙德 2021.06.04   Chinese People Those migrant workers who have to demand their wages.  148 pairs of battered hands held out from Daqing’s caved-in mine. Li Aiye, who caught AIDS after giving blood. The shepherd bachelors of the loess slopes. Gossipy women licking a finger to count money. Hair salon girls: unlicensed sex-workers. Peddlers engaged in a running battle with city authorities. Old bosses in need of a sauna. The 9 to 5 tribe off to work on their bicycles. Good-for-nothings with no where to go and nothing to do. The bar-room wasters. Old men sipping tea as they pet songbirds. Scholars who fill the heads of their listeners with fog. Derros, punters, porters stinking to high heaven; dandies, beggars, doctors, secretaries (and secret mistresses into the bargain); workplace clowns and other supporting actors. From the Avenue of Heavenly Peace to the Guangzhou Road I have yet to see “the Chinese people” this winter; I've seen ordinary, speaking bodies keeping each other warm on buses day after day. They're like grimy coins: their users hand them over frowning to society. 2004 Tr. by Simon Patten Self-Portrait, 1967 a happy "sonofabitch"[1] crossing the street I was ten that year, had never ever seen a bare wall green army uniforms made the summer exciting I scampered in and out of the language of debate learning how to read from political posters my sensitive snout picking up the smell of burning the sun was blistering that summer of raging slogans a sonofabitch crossing through a revolutionary storm classrooms empt-empt-empty a "sonofabitch" crossing through a whizz of bullets finally charging up onto the muzzle of a gun more thrilled than I'd ever been, I had no idea what death was in my tenth summer I felt like I was living in a movie and had caught up with the life and times of the heroic Pavel Korchagin [2] when I care-carefully picked up a bullet off the ground what my fingers touched was only the start of the nightmare in 1967 I saw faces vanishing into thin air with my own eyes a jittery little "sonofabitch" crossing the street and running as fast as it could from the scenes of 1967 [1] The word gouzaizi, translated above as "sonofabitch," literally means “dog-spawn.” During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), this term was used to refer to the children of parents classified as landlords, rich peasants, anti-revolutionaries, convicted prisoners and so-called "Rightists" (intellectuals who had criticized the Chinese Communist Party).—Tr.  [2] Pavel Korchagin is the worker-hero of the novel How the Steel Was Tempered by Nikolai Ostrovsky. The book was extremely popular in China (millions were sold) and was recently made into a television series.—Tr. March 7, 1994 Tr. by Simon Patton A Kapok Tree, Backlit at Sunset Tree of dreams   as the expanse behind it sinks into twilight Its backlit shape takes on a special clarity There is a hint of swaying in its living upper limbs For whom this loveliness   these eye-catching pastel lines? Overflow of lingering beauty radiates into the air Telling its tale of survival as far as light reaches In this moment’s cataclysm of the spirit Enveloped in an aura of nobility A tree toward which we lean admiringly On the point of crawling in supplication Whose hand is turning down the sun’s lamp-wick? Only its flames are still leaping Blossom of desire   this season’s invisible flower Being blown toward high places by the final passion My soul flies on the branch tips As gloom closes in   all living things sink into it In the scenery of the spirit The silhouette one presents   means everything Written in 30th of November, 1994 Translated by Denis Mair How to Mend the Holes in this World The world is like an old garment Torn apart into pieces            Civilization burns on the blade Missiles pass through torn clouds Bullet craters are holes one by one                Street corner, where gazes intersect The human heart opens the mouth of a giant beast            Battlefield, Parliament, Screen Every fragment is screaming            Someone is using tired fingers, Sewing stitch by stitch            My palm is already covered in bloodstains The person standing on this ruins Who isn't a piece of rag?            Continue tearing Until everyone becomes tattered Until there are no more seams to mend (English translation: Cao Shui ) lking towards Flower Mountain (Suite)  —Flower Mountain (Huashan) is located in Ningming County, Guangxi Province along Mingjiang River. Around 1500 rough-edged human figures are painted on a cliff face in cinnabar, bursting with raw vitality. The largest of the figures is three meters tall, and the shortest is around 30 centimeters. The figures are spread over an area 40-50 meters high by 170-180 meters wide. This spot is widely thought to be the cultural fountainhead of the Zhuang Minority.  Hey-yo he-yo— I am a paean in blood   I am a tribute to fire From the tip of a boar’s tusk I came From a pheasant’s fluffed-up feathers I came From strange power of bone ornaments I came Having snuffed out the ravenous glow in a wolf’s eyes I came Having faced down the flaming stripes on a tiger’s brow I came From a straight arrow and a stout bow I came here Stepping over death agonies of my prey Hey-yo blood   hey-yo fire Hey-yo fierce beauty With sword raised   beating a drum   to a gong’s beat I came —Ni-lo! … From nodding ears of millet I came  From corn tassels lit up by sunlight I came From ravines and garden strips no wider than a conical hat To the whiz of a full-swung machete blade I came By power of flames to clear planting grounds I came Hey-yo blood   hey-yo fire Hey-yo for ripe, bursting beauty With joyful songs   hopping like sparrows   we come dancing A bride tosses an embroidered ball in our wake Red-dyed eggs** smack shell-to-shell as we come Barn-houses of spotted and yellow bamboo rise at our heels We carefully press rice cakes in family molds Steam from our five kinds of rice wafts downwind We are a paean in blood   We are a tribute to fire Hey-yo blood   hey-yo fire Hey-yo for beauty of things exalted A series of arrowheads aimed at the blood-red sun   loosed At a wild bull with eyes as red as the sun A mountain man of Luoyue** clad in rawhide Bellows straight from his rawhide-clad soul His bellow is like that of a red-eyed fighting bull Sounds of his own footsteps cheer him on All across the wild slopes…he steps over Moans of companions fallen in bamboo thickets The might of his arm Drives the shaft of his spear Straight into a leopard’s mouth The cliff seethes with raging blood Wind whips past the forest trees Past the heart’s flapping banner Luscious smells of evening Hang over a hearth fire Snapping of green firewood Shoots up sparks to join stars in the sky Sending up tales of Old Buloto**, who fought Thunder King And of Mother Le’s visit to heaven And dreams of a feathered man The embers long ago died down Now only this timeless message Still blazes across the cliff face More primitive than pictographic signs More sacred than the sun Even the wind was massacred Gutted moorlands   final resting place Of skulls that kissed the sword   blood that drenched arrows Corpses puddled in blood Hoof-pounding melee now recumbent Clanging massacre   blades hacking flesh Outright cruelty or cold torture Rising crescendo of war gongs Summoning bows and swords   summoning rattan shields Not despairing even when mothers wail From ruins of established tribes Youthful stockades sprang up By way of more deaths   barbarity led the way to civilization Oh the maiden who sounded a drum with her severed arm Was passed down in folk songs Worshipped as the heroine of her people Although cooking smoke was severed by sharp blades Some found a riverbank where it could grow rankly  A marsh once soaked in blood Cast off the heroic era of brass drums Yet never once did war turn rusty Blood in grim and vivid hues Sinful and holy, washed over the land Through wind-whipped waves   past sails torn to pieces Step into a canoe that hoists no sail Track the bear wounded by an arrow   its trickle of blood Run toward the hunter who wears a quiver Turn toward offerings of netted fish Turn toward offerings flushed from thickets Beauty of nakedness   of yielding warmth Pent-up blood dissipates in time   whitecaps sweep away loneliness From loftiest peaks   torrents of love race down Once tempting dilemmas fade away in time Young hearts were ignited by an embroidered ball 1984 Tr. by Denis Mair A Bundle of Letters 1. “your voice comes, across distant time and space” the left hand pressing the paper, with a heart-piercing force facing, in an instant, many a thing that can’t be recalled such as the tone, the intonation, pauses organic and inorganic even your heart murmurings, strong and weak “the incurable smells, and the body odours” the instant pain, the person writing words, hidden in lined paper of whom the character may let slip hearsay if not careful enough   putting the hand over the characters you had written the heaven-and-earth sweeping feeling, nearly striking one down the characters so energetic, with enough force to wound and kill “the hand over them could gain energy” so much so that I seemed to be hovering over a face or something else the most enticing part of it was to smell it, and you could taste the sun “the gradated tones of an oriental’s skin have touching appeal” that damned mosquito bit the arch of my foot “isn’t that as unbearable as licking someone’s soul?” by accident I swallowed a chrysanthemum so smooth and slippery soft that one “sinks” in thought and “thought” sinks thoughts emerged on and off, like gulps of muddy water thirsty, then quenched, feeling so happy but the throat gets stuck with mud thirsty and quenched again, life a bitter puzzle between head and body at the instant of entering hell, despair comes welling up like first love no one can really bear the “blows” of happiness “what a luxury it would be to die in happiness”        2. the south is an empty nest and i am a lonely bird under the eaves, detached, cold with a multiple personality, my wings used to embrace, not to fly wind outside, occasional rain peddlers and hawkers are sassing each other; women blooming in their snail abodes upon a husband’s return to his pretty little woman, the master of the household     has changed nietzsche is dead; smell it; it smells foul! gauguin said what he wanted to establish was the right to do whatever he wanted split a feather for me; I am turning vulgar but no one cares reading? writing? spending days fragmentarily like chickens and dogs like mud at the bottom of the lake, feeling myself dying inch by inch “how can you pass such a night alone if you are not writing?”   many people are not as good as a bird really, what is up with these odd birds?  “don’t listen to my rubbish! My mood is getting the better of me” —just plain moody, and for no reason at all 3. however, when I read your first letter what you said taught my soul to fly   without your written words as evidence the devil only knows who you are and what I’m doing I do not know you but am familiar with you although I am in no position to prove your existence i suspect the characters you wrote may possibly have originated before the middle ages the sneak attack of memory carries a dizzy sensation at one’s weakest it is easy to return to childhood drawing a little water curtain closed, in a small space one, two, three, four, five, six, seven…. making stroke after stroke, drooling, being serious time turning the other way round, like a silkworm metamorphosing you have two braids, long and thick; you look at people in a strange way and I was your neighbour, “I’ll call you big brother” you always thought only you could call me so crickets around the waist sang out a summer entwining wisteria, coiling and coiling some more you made me feel pure, innocent although I can’t return there again   sadness descends mixed with unnamable desires smoking a cigarette and imagining, again, a woman possessing all colors, scents and tastes who stood in front of Su Xiaoxiao’s tomb, like a renowned courtesan from some other era [1] drawing gentlemen into encounters, sending them forth to conquer the world acting demure, holding up one corner of her skirt, a free-wheeler if the truth be told [2] for me such a person remains mysterious, not a threat yet inexplicably devastating all before them ah my, maybe neither of these fictions hit the mark but it would be more unbearable for a man to stop imagining than for a woman     to stop looking in the mirror.      4. maybe my body was bound by your handwriting right from the beginning its softness and tenacity lie not in the utterance, but in the impulse to entwine I do not know who listens to the saint’s words, who speaks unspeakably in birdsong at dawn I hear a heart-throbbing through a budding flower I see part of you you are physically real in my dream but nothing when I awake   I’m no longer moved by the melody of music or the rhythm of poetry I’m moved only by “the signifier,” moistened by lips and an open hand   burning. ascending. rosy clouds gathering, “kidnapped” by an angel for a whole summer I have been vaulting and shimmering in your radiance except that I am never sure whether this is an experienced event     or a desired illusion   5. rubbish. around me. around you. -“so are you.” “so am I” we are being polluted. we accept it. and we say it’s pretty good, happy are we   separated by the sprawl of the objective world busy, from one city to another no real foundation, no real residence: status of the modern person.     status of human beings   an ant, always moving house but never seeing a home a grain of rice on its forehead, picked up from no-one knows where   “I suspect I am only sleepwalking” and now, you, woke me up, made me feel I am alive I--at present--here and now   like an inky thief that has vomited ink all day [3] its wrung-out gut now rinsed with water, its swollen form spread out the longest tentacle reaching your chest, adsorbing you   I feel that I should be somewhere else I feel that I am already somewhere else poetical fingers are peeling the “I” that is “yours” away from daily life body and soul are in perfect synch, bursting with vitality enveloped in invisible dense vapor that keeps out evil and shame an atmosphere absorbing the atmosphere…an expanse of blue, an expanse of yellow   a flow of feeling, like pain after tooth-extraction, faintly…. since then we have looked down on happiness 6. except that I am never sure whether this is an experienced event     or a desired illusion [1] Su Xiaoxiao: a famous Chinese courtesan in Southern Qi (479-502), whose tomb is found in Hangzhou near West Lake. [2] Fengliu (literally “wind-flow”) can mean dashing, gallant, fancy-free, breezy or free-wheeling [3] Wuzei (literally inky thief) is the Chinese word for squid. –Tr.   July 24, 1995 Tr. by Ouyang Yu Yang Ke is a contemporary Chinese poet, known for his consistent highly personalised style of historical imagination and pursuit of truth. His urban poetry marks, in a certain sense, the emergence of subjectivity in Chinese poetic expression. He has published 13 poetry collections in Chinese—including Yang Ke’s Poems, Related and Unrelated, and I Saw My Country Inside a Pomegranate—along with 4 collections of prose essays and 1 anthology, through presses such as People's Literature Publishing House and Taiwan Huapin Wenchuang Co.Ltd. His works have also been translated into 10 foreign-language collections, including Two Halves of the World Apple and A Journey Without Destination, published by the University of Oklahoma Press (USA), Cambridge River Press (UK), and publishers in Romania, Sweden, Spain, among others. He is the editor-in-chief of Chinese New Poetry Yearbook(1998–2019) and has received more than a dozen literary awards from mainland China, Taiwan, and abroad, including the Francesco Giampietri International Literary Prize (Italy) and the Cambridge Xu Zhimo Poetry Award (UK). Yang Ke currently serves as a Presidium Member of the China Writers Association, President of the Chinese Poetry Society, and Research Fellow at the Poetry Institute of Peking University.

On May 27, 2025, the 5th Silk Road International Poetry and Art Festival was successfully held at the Mohammed bin Rashid Library in Dubai, UAE. Over 100 poets and artists from countries and regions including Asia, Europe, Africa, America, Oceania, China, and the UAE participated in this grand event. Poets from the Dubai royal family and local cultural and art circles were invited to attend the event. The Honorary Chairmen of the festival Huang Yazhou, Adel Khozam, Vadim Terekhin, Festival Chairman Wang Fangwen, and Executive Chairman Cao Shui attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Max Lu, Chairman of the United Nations World Silk Road Forum, delivered a video speech at the opening ceremony and announced that His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, was awarded the title of „Spiritual and Literary Inspirational Figure for Silk Road Poets”. Max Lu Max Lu, Chairman of the United Nations World Silk Road Forum, said in a speech: „China and the UAE are both great nations of the Silk Road. Under the wise leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed, Dubai has become one of the most prosperous, developed, inclusive, and poetic cities in the world. His Highness Sheikh Mohammed is also a well-known poet in the Arab world. His poems contain love, wisdom, and philosophy, inspiring generations of young people. In the future, we will continue to promote the global dissemination of Sheikh Mohammed’s poems to inspire more young people.” At the opening ceremony, participants recited Sheikh Mohammed’s classic poems such as „Positive Spirit”, „Youth’s Determination”, and „I Hear the Echo of Your Voice”. Poets also presented their own poems dedicated to Sheikh Mohammed, including „Silk of China, the Glow of the World” by Huang Yazhou, „Distant Camel Bell” by Wang Fangwen, and „To His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum” by Bian Haiyun, paying tribute to the ruler poet. Huang Yazhou Huang Yazhou, Honorary Chairman of the 5th Silk Road International Poetry and Art Festival and Vice Chairman of the China Writers Association, delivered a passionate speech at the opening ceremony: „Meeting is a poem. This time, we meet in Dubai in the name of poetry. Poetry is the cultural gene of both China and the UAE. In the Chinese desert, there are the oases of Tang poetry; in the Arabian Peninsula, there is the Nabataean poetry; in Dubai, there is the light of poetry. Poetry is eternal. Sheikh Mohammed, Habib Al Sayegh, and Ousha bint Khalifa Al Suwaidi are outstanding representatives of UAE poetry. Their works, like the Chinese Tang poetry, are immortal. In Sheikh Mohammed’s poem ‘Days of a Nation’, he wrote: ‘Our lifespan may not last a hundred years, but our creativity can leave a lasting legacy.’ This is the voice of a great poet, and even more so, the heart of a great ruler!” Dr. Mohammed Salem Al Mazrouei Dr. Mohammed Salem Al Mazrouei, Executive Director of the Mohammed bin Rashid Library, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony: „The poetry of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed has far-reaching significance and provides direction for the future development of literature. It is precisely because of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed’s high regard for culture that the Mohammed bin Rashid Library has been built. Now, the library houses books in over ten languages, including Chinese literature. This symbolizes the deep cultural exchanges between China and the UAE. Today, we hold the Silk Road Poetry Festival in the library, fulfilling His Highness Sheikh Mohammed’s expectations.” Adel Khozam Adel Khozam, UAE poet and Honorary Chairman of the 5th Silk Road International Poetry and Art Festival, said in his speech: „To describe Sheikh Mohammed, it is no exaggeration to say he is a phenomenon. In this city, you can find almost everything. Here, safety is paramount, and this security nurtures creativity. Culture is everywhere, supporting the economy. Dubai is a city where poetry and life coexist. Through the spirit of poetry, we celebrate not only poetic works but also a vision, a civilization. Sheikh Mohammed’s poetic light will illuminate the future path of the entire world.” Wang Fangwen Wang Fangwen, Chairman of the 5th Silk Road International Poetry and Art Festival and President of the Silk Road International Poets Federation, said in his speech: „Poetry is the soul of the Silk Road, the most beautiful flower blooming in the human world. Along the path of the Silk Road, poetry has always accompanied us. Today, we hold this grand festival in Dubai, at the beautiful Mohammed bin Rashid Library. This is the fourth global Silk Road International Poetry and Art Festival we have held after Spain, Russia, and Xi’an, China. We chose Dubai because it is a city that values poetry, a hub of the Silk Road, and a beacon for humanity. We also thank the poets of the UAE for their tremendous support.” During the event, nearly a hundred poets from five continents performed their works, and nearly a hundred awards were presented, including 12 UAE poets who received the „Silk Road International Poet” honor. The successful holding of the 5th Silk Road International Poetry and Art Festival in Dubai not only highlighted Dubai’s status as a poetic city but also laid a solid foundation for future cultural exchanges between China and the UAE. 第五届丝绸之路国际诗歌节获奖名单 List of the 5th Silk Road International Poetry Festival Awards 桂冠诗人奖 Poet Laureate Award: 费尔南多·伦德（哥伦比亚） Fernando Rendon（Colombia） 瓦迪姆·特里金（俄罗斯） Vadim Terekhin（Russia） 阿德尔·霍扎姆（阿联酋） Adel Khozam（UAE） 金驼奖 Golden Camel Award: 哈姆达·哈米斯（阿联酋） Hamda Khamis（UAE） 哈立德·阿勒布杜尔（阿联酋） Khalid Al Budoor（UAE） 库洛德·阿勒穆阿拉（阿联酋） Khulood Al Mualla（UAE） 韩舸友（美国） Han Geyou（America） 蓬 丹（美国） Peng Dan（America） 佩 英（新西兰） Pei Ying（New Zealand） 远 帆（加拿大） Yuan Fan（Canada） 张建军（中国） Zhang Jianjun（China） 卫国强（中国） Wei Guoqiang（China） 范 群（中国） Fan Qun（China） 陈东林（中国） Chen Donglin（China） 张亚军（中国） Zhang Yajun（China） 冷先桥（中国） Leng Xianqiao（China） 董发亮（中国） Dong Faliang（China） 银驼奖 Silver Camel Award ： 谢哈·阿卜杜拉·阿尔姆泰里（阿联酋） Shaikha Abdulla Almteiri（UAE） 阿玛尔·阿勒萨拉维（阿联酋） Amal Al Sahlawi（UAE） 萨阿德·朱马（阿联酋） Saad Jumaa（UAE） 阿里·阿勒沙利（阿联酋） Ali Al Shaali（UAE） 田丽娜（中国）《一壶清风》 Tian Lina（China）for her book“A Pot of Fresh Breeze” 张显扬（澳大利亚） Zhang Xianyang（Australia） 林小春（中国） Lin Xiaochun（China） 乔清雅（中国） Qiao Qingya（China） 陈 红（中国） Chen Hong（China） 徐友春（中国） Xu Youchun（China） 田继光（中国） Tian Jiguang（China） 孙美琴（中国） Sun Meiqin（China） 彭海祥（中国） Peng Haixiang（China） 张保萍（中国） Zhang Baoping（China） 伊 兰（中国） Yi Lan（China） 解莉芬（中国） Xie Lifen（China） 徐万莲（中国） Xu Wanlian（China） 黄少彬（中国） Huang Shaobin（China） 最佳诗集奖 Best Poetry Collection Award： 阿里·艾哈迈德·阿尔·马兹米（阿联酋）《我死去的日子坐在哪里》 Ali Ahmed Al Mazmi（UAE）for his book“Where My Dead Days Sit” 法蒂玛·巴德尔（阿联酋）《一个没有名字的人》 Fatima Badr（UAE） for her book“The One No One Names” 安娜·斯洁丽雅（塞尔维亚/阿联酋）《宇宙的低语》 Ana Stjelja（Serbia/UAE） for her book“Whisper of the Universe” 章群利（中国）红菱（中国）《解秘·清明上河图》 Zhang Qunli（China）Hong Ling（China）“Secret Explanation：Along The River During the Qingming Festival” 夏 露（中国）《邂逅莫奈花园》 Xia Lu（China） for her book“Monet’s Garden Rendezvous” 裴春芳（中国）《破茧》 Pei Chunfang（China）for her book“Break the Cocoon” 伏 萍（中国）《星空·脊梁》 Fu Ping（China）for her book“Starry Sky and Backbone” 燕 紫（澳大利亚）《彼岸月光》 Laura Fu（Australia） for her book“Moonlight on the Other Shore” 边海云（中国）《红尘阡陌》 Bian Haiyun（China）for her book“The Small Path In The Mortal World” 海 霞（中国）《丝路霞光》 Hai Xia（China）for her book“Silk Road Sunglow” 廉 涛（中国）《心中那抹绿》 Lian Tao（China）for his book“The Green In My Heart” 卞启忠（中国）《环球诗人》 Bian Qizhong（China）for his book“A Global Poet” 杨 莹（中国）《醉长安》 Yang Ying（China）for her book“Drunken In Chang'an City” 林 琳（中国香港）《岁月留声》 Yang Ying（China）for her book“The Sound of Time” 孙文芳（中国）《风中的歌者》 Sun Wenfang（China）for her book“Singer in the Wind” 最佳诗电影奖 Best Poetry Film Award： 拉蒂·萨克森纳（印度）《为什么河流沉默不语》 Rati Saxena（India）《Why Is The River Silent》 乌鲁克贝格·耶斯道勒特（哈萨克斯坦）《时间的踪迹》 Ulugbek Yesdaulet（Kazakhstan）《Trace》 弗兰卡·克罗佐（意大利）《屠杀无罪》 Franca Colozzo（Italy）《The Slaughter Of The Innocents》 努乔姆·加内姆（阿联酋）《尖锐工具》 Nujoom Al Ghanem（UAE）《Sharp Tools》 马苏德·阿穆拉·阿里（阿联酋）《大山守护者》 Masoud Amralla Al Ali（UAE）《The Mountain Keepers》 冰 凌（英国）《昆仑赋》 Bing Ling（UK）《Ode to the Kunlun Mountains》 秋 林（澳大利亚）《幻游马德里的白云》 Qiu Lin（Australia）《Fantasy Tour of the White Clouds in Madrid》 北 雪（中国）《大明宫赋》 Bei Xue（China）《Ode to the Daming Palace》 张 雄（中国）《水调歌头·潼关》 Zhang Xiong（China）《Prelude to Water Ripple：Tongguan》 赵西斌（中国）《满江红·镇北台》 Zhao Xibin（China）《Full River Red：Defend the North》 李亚光（中国）《小雁塔赋》 Li Yaguang（China）《Ode to Small Wild Goose Pagoda》 韩智平（中国）《处女泉的白天鹅》 Han Zhiping（China）《The White Swan of Virgo Spring》 翻译奖 Translator Award： 雅拉·艾尔密苏里（埃及） Yara El Masri（Egypt） 兰伯特·加西亚（意大利） Lamberto Garzia（Italy） 罗伯特·艾多（智利） Roberto Aedo（Chile） 亚瑟夫·阿南达（古巴） Yasef Ananda（Cuba） 张立中（澳大利亚） Zhang Lizhong（Australia） 亚洲年度诗人奖（5） Asian Poet of the Year Award 凯沙布·西格德尔（尼泊尔） Keshab Sigdel（Nepal） 阿卜杜卡赫·科西莫夫（塔吉克斯坦） Abdukakhor Kosimov（Tajikistan） 毕普拉博·马吉（印度） Biplab Majee（India） 韩秉徹（韩国） Kang-Byeong-Cheol（South Korea） 阿尔特奈·泰米罗娃（吉尔吉斯斯坦） Altynai Temirova（Kyrgyzstan） 欧洲年度诗人奖（5） European Poet of the Year Award 朱塞佩·孔特（意大利） Guiseppe Conte（Italy） 迪米特里斯·毕·克拉尼奥蒂斯（希腊） Dimitris P.Kraniotis（Greece） 纽都然·杜门（土耳其） Nurduran Duman（Türkiye） 廖一菲（英国） Angel XJ（UK） 卢茜拉·特拉帕佐（瑞士） Lucilla Trapazzo（Switzerland） 非洲年度诗人奖（5） African Poet of the Year Award 阿舒尔·芬尼（阿尔及利亚） Achour Fenni（Algeria） 穆罕穆德·拉合尔（阿尔及利亚） Muhammad Rahal（Algeria） 阿什拉夫·阿布勒-雅玆德（埃及） Ashraf Aboul-Yazid（Egypt） 乔治·昂西（埃及） George Onsy（Egypt） 希菲微·恩济玛-恩特塞克（莱索托） Siphiwe Nzima Ntsekhe（Lesotho） 美洲年度诗人奖（5） American Poet of the Year Award 乔治·华莱士（美国） George Wallace（US） 亚力克斯·博塞德斯（古巴） Alex Pausides（Cuba） 尤莉·帕提诺（委内瑞拉） Yuri Patino（Venezuela） 艾德温·高纳（厄瓜多尔） Edwin Goana（Ecuador） 路易斯·贝尼特斯（阿根廷） Luis Benitez（Argentina） 大洋洲年度诗人奖（5） Oceanian Poet of the Year Award 莱斯·威克斯（澳大利亚） Les Wicks（Australia） 映 霞（澳大利亚） Ying Xia（Australia） 廖世敬（澳大利亚） Liao Shijing（Australia） 芳 竹（新西兰） Fang Zhu（New Zealand） 刘宇航（新西兰） Liu Yuhang（New Zealand）

In the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, in the far north of Siberia, a collection of books about Serbia and the Serbian people has been established thanks to a donation from the Association for Culture, Arts and International Cooperation “Adligat.” Previously, a “Yamal Collection” was created in Belgrade, and just recently, a hundred books about this Siberian region, along with numerous objects, arrived in Belgrade—forming a rare collection on a global scale about this Arctic region, which is of international importance due to its rich oil and gas reserves. The collaboration began with a visit by the Governor of Yamal to Adligat last year, followed by a visit from Viktor Lazić, a lawyer and honorary president of Adligat. The latest donation to Adligat was presented by Liana Hairulina, Deputy Head of the Yamal District Office. Cooperation with Russian regions has been made possible thanks to the selfless and dedicated work of Natalia Klishenkova, Cultural Attaché at the Russian Embassy. On this occasion, Adligat presented a special award—a plaque of appreciation—to Natalia Klishenkova “for supporting culture in the most difficult times, and for fostering friendship among nations.” Yamal—a region the size of nine Serbias, through which flows the famous Ob River, whose banks are as far as 90 kilometers apart at their widest point—is one of Russia’s wealthiest regions and home to Gazprom.  The Yamal Regional Library, located in the region’s capital, Salekhard (one of the largest Arctic cities), has partnered with Adligat and sent a hundred books as a gift. Earlier, Adligat donated a hundred books on Serbia and classical Serbian literature to this library to form a Serbian corner. “I traveled through Russia for two years and visited 63 regions. Each province there is like a country elsewhere—so rich in history, culture, and natural beauty, and often larger in area than many countries,” said Viktor Lazić, emphasizing that this project would not have been possible without the strong support of the Cultural Attaché of the Russian Federation, Natalia Klishenkova. “Ms. Klishenkova is more than a cultural attaché. She is a model and an example of how a diplomat can and should work. We have collaborated with more than a hundred cultural attachés over the past two decades—we have never worked with someone more dedicated, always approachable, sincere, and well-intentioned. We once prepared an important exhibition together at midnight. Her commitment to colleagues, partners, work, and culture, her understanding and sacrifice for true values—these are things we will remember,” said Viktor Lazić, honorary president of Adligat. Thanks to Ms. Klishenkova—and, of course, with the support of other embassy staff—Adligat has facilitated dozens of visits from Russian cultural figures, diplomats, and social workers. Last year, Adligat presented an exhibition marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade, opened at the Presidency on Andrićev Venac, where rare wartime publications, periodicals, and previously unknown photographs of Russian liberators were shown to the public for the first time. Part of the exhibition was dedicated to heroes from Yamal—Grigory Kalibabov, a Yamal soldier who died liberating Belgrade on the day of its liberation, October 20, 1944, and Nikolai Shakurov, a veteran whom Lazić had the opportunity to meet during his stay in Salekhard. The Yamal Collection in the Museum of Books and Travel already contains many wonders:  the Governor of Yamal gifted a porcelain white bear made by one of the best porcelain factories in the world, based in St. Petersburg and active since the 18th century; there are authentic traditional costumes of the Khanty people—also a gift from distant Siberia. The collection includes objects made from mammoth bones, a chess set made from reindeer antlers, books signed by important writers, and even items signed by Aleksandra Goryachkina, one of the world’s top female chess players. Thus, two distant parts of the world—Serbia and faraway Yamal—have been brought together, where, in some schools, Serbian is now even being taught. From next week, visitors to Adligat’s Museum of Books and Travel will be able to view the Yamal Collection as part of its permanent exhibition. Source and photo : Adligat

„On the Russian Victory Day on May 9, Vadim Terekhin, Co-chairman of the Russian Writers and Poets' Federation, sent a congratulatory letter. Cao Shui, a famous Chinese poet, writer, playwright and public figure, was awarded the „BRICS Creator Order” (No. 57) by the Russian Finance and Economics Forum Committee of the BRICS Organization, in recognition of his „For his selfless service to poetry and his great personal contribution to world literature, as well as for strengthening friendship between peoples.” The BRICS Creator Order was issued by D Lee Khan Chin, Chairman of the Russian Financial Forum Committee, and will be officially presented on his behalf by Vadim Terekhin on May 27th. According to Russian media, the medal is awarded annually to politicians, artists, and poets who have made outstanding contributions to world civilization worldwide.

Ivan Pozzoni You introduced the concept of “Law and Literature” to the Italian intellectual scene. What drew you to this intersection, and what do you believe it reveals about the human condition? The introduction, in Italian universities, of a serious study of the subject of Law and Literature , studied, very badly, by a handful of italian scholars (the scenographic Eva Cantarella, professor of greek law in a nearby department), is due to the mere chance of a feud that occurred in the State University of Milan during my assistantship: in the department of philosophy of law there was a fight, chair after chair, between the trend of the theory of law of analytical origin introduced by Uberto Scarpelli and the trend of philosophy of law of historiographic origin held by my teacher Mario A. Cattaneo. First in Italy, the ius-analytic professors flooded the department, chasing away to Padua the professors of historiographic origin. To maintain my role in Milan, fascinated by analytical philosophy and pragmatism, i proposed to my reference professor a historiographic approach to analytical philosophy. First a sort of "Law and Philosophy" was born, and over time a real "Law and Literature", that is, a study of jus-philosophical conceptions in literary texts. This helped me to realize that there is no art without politics and law. You've been described as a literary guerrilla, founding avant-garde movements and anti-manifestos. What does “NéoN-Avant-gardisme” rebel against—and what does it hope to build? NéoN-Av ant-gardisme, closed in 2018, attacked the italian Mondadori regime, with its Papal State, formed by a manipulative Pope-king, many cardinals co-opted among friends, and many curials interested in obtaining benefits and occupying space. Artists of the calibre of Luciano Troisio, Ignazio Apolloni, Leopoldo Attolico, Marzio Pieri, Francesco Piselli and Francesco Marotta collaborated in the movement, which was based on a destructive irony towards all forms of nomadic neo-capitalism and the fluid structure of society. As a mediocre businessman poet, Panetta, put it in the only meaningful sentence of his existence, at the end of the krisis born with the bankruptcy of Lehman, neon was replaced by LED, becoming anachronistic. After six years of silence in academic circles, you’ve re-emerged. What led to this hiatus—and what stirred your return? The pause was caused by a reason of art politology and art sociology: with the end of the krisis, the time of avant-gardes and neo-avant-gardes, the NéoN-Avant-gardisme movement became anachronistic. According to Zygmunt Bauman, a change of epoch was taking place: the transition from the modern to the late-modern. Modern aesthetic ontology - as the italian literary critic Giorgio Linguaglossa argued - had to be replaced with a new aesthetic ontology.I focused on the in-depth study of the aesthetic paradigm shift, concluding that a new aesthetic ontology would bring back in through the window the ontology that had been thrown out the door: american pragmatics, new sociology, new epistemology and neuroaesthetics convinced me to found a new  socio/ethno/anthropologyaesthetic, freed from every forms of ontology and metaphysics. The internationalist experience of Kolektivne NSEAE was born. You’ve written over 150 volumes and a thousand essays. Is there a central idea or obsession that binds them all? The central, obsessive idea is their collectivity. Unlike my contemporaries, sick of aesthetic narcissism and ego-pathy or ego-mania, who competed in churning out dozens of mono-graphs, aimed at sanctifying and promoting them, i have dedicated 90% of my literary production to the collective or anthology of different voices, in order to create a sort of assembly of artists and scholars, on the Peirce model. The roots of the neo-N-Avant-garde and NSEAE can be traced back, with the Liminamentis publishing house encounter, to the exasperated and continued anarchic and socialist use of the collective volume, understood etymologically as a colligĕre, to collect, «voices», «aesthetic/philosophical experience» far from the egopathy of the mono-graph, the monadic ‘form’-writing of modern aesthetic ontology. The neon-avant-garde experience alternates an extreme anthologising recidivism with less mono-graphic activity. Your work has been acknowledged by figures like Zygmunt Bauman and featured in major literary manuals. Does literary recognition change your relationship with writing—or does it reinforce your outsider ethos? My artistic activity is bipolar: total outsider in the Italy of the Papal States, due to my constant denunciation of the trust, illicit and mafia-like behaviour of the regime's lyrical/elegiac artistic groups; recognised by Life magazine as one of the major international artists, spread and translated in the slavic world, Africa, the arab world, aouth-East Asia and South America, with the exception of the EU and the USA, dominated by the artistic power groups with the most absolute and categorical ignorance in the history of literature (USA and Germany), where my desecrating and subversive texts are too complex compared to their medium/low level culture. My goal, with the KNSEAE, is to turn this situation around: to annihilate the bigoted and mediocre US and EU art world with the support of marginalised artistic areas; and, and, having remodeled the international artistic areas of strength, to break through the walls of the Papal States in Italy, new Cadorna. Probably, in the future, an “alien” messiah, more gifted and stronger than me, will succeed: i, Ivan the Baptist, prepare the way, as a sapper, for the arrival of this new artistic Yoshua. Many of your titles—La malattia invettiva, Galata Morente, Scarti di magazzino—suggest rupture, decay, irony. How do you see the role of “invective” in modern literature? Invective is at the heart of my artistic writing: Martial, Villon, Brassens and De Andrè are the greatest artists in the history of world literature. Writing, by becoming experimental poetry, frees itself definitively from the “elegiac self”. The riot-text, as “anti-poetry”, continues to be based, with due Rortyian corrections, on Derridean and Deleuzian irony, on Dossian humour, on the irony of Lucini's Revolverate, on the invective weapon of the neo-avant-gardes, on Paul De Man's “dédoublement and vertigo that flows into madness”, on Bachtinian carnivalisation, on the use of aesthetic putpourri - all considered as voluntary attempts to anticipate the substitution of a modern aesthetic ontology - directed against “elegiac poetry” and “amateurish self-language”, and innovates with “aesthetic experiments”, with participatory observation and with the utmost clarity. Everything else is boredom, as the maestro Franco Califano sang. Your poems have been translated into French, English, and Spanish. How do you see the limits—or liberties—of translation when it comes to your deeply Italian-rooted texts? My texts have currently been translated into 30 different languages and dialects, including kurdish, persian, bosnian, macedonian, polish, hindi, urdu, bengali, nepali, meeteilol, dzongkha, chinese, russian, yoruba... and italian! The artist, gathered in bunds, kolektivne, aeriform, nomadic and resilient assemblies, metabolised the error of modern philosophical historiography on the aristotelian distinction between ποίησις and πρᾶξις, rejects the very notion of “poetry” or anti-“poetry” as a fantastic creation of an object-language and, in the name of a pragmatics conception of the object-language itself, revives the authentic interpretation of the artist against any subjective interpretation of the literary critic. Criticism is not dead: it has become weak interpretation subject to the artist's argumentative meta-criticism (Habermas). The artist becomes agens (engaged poetry), from faber, organises the object-language according to his ends, replaces hermeneutics with praxeology, appropriates art-making (discourse), art-telling (meta-discourse) and art-contra-discourse (mega-meta-discourse), acquiring the role of artist, critic and meta-critic (thermonuclear counter-reviews), against every attempt at metaphysical veramusement of art and against every ontology of lyrical/elegiac modernism. Translation is the confrontation of authentic/subjective interpretations of artists, far from the business translation trade. You’ve been editor and director of literary and philosophical journals like Il Guastatore and Información Filosófica. What makes a journal relevant in the digital, rapid-fire era of ideas? The tyranny of magazines must be destroyed by latemodernism. The significant artist - unlike the majority of mediocre artists in every area of the world, who, like Petropoulou or Dooley, exploit the fake role of artistic mediator - must categorically refuse to follow the cage of idiotic editorial criteria constructed by an editorial board of useless mediocrities, interested in hoarding money and funding from the third-rate artist. The latemodernist artist dialogues with a strong editor, who is able to differentiate chocolate from shit, to dismantle space-occupying editorial boards on the european/USA model: otherwise - as is currently the case in certain areas of the world - the artist writes, is a graphic designer, edits, prints, sells and buys magazines by himself. Who cares about your editorial criteria and and artistic mediators with a middle school education: latemodernism will wipe you all out: you are all under attack! What does it mean today to found a literary or philosophical movement in an age of social media and cultural noise? Fighting, in a situation of continuous tinnitus, the culture of followers or likes. Please, mediocre people, don't follow me and don't like me. I don't follow you and i don't care. I am creating a very secret and nomadic handful of militants, fit for sabotage/boycott and judicial/legal attack, to be launched in kamikaze attacks against multinationals, publishing groups and magazines. The illicit act to report to the antitrust department of the Strasbourg Court can always be found: we are artists/lawyers! You once wrote, “Patroclo non deve morire.” Must certain figures in literature and myth be rescued again and again? I firmly believe that the foundations of modern culture are in the Greek and Latin world. These cultural foundations, mixed with liberal enlightenment, characterize true western democracy, millennia away from the fake western states that dispense fake democracy with carpet bombings of their military air forces (USA/EU). We must, through permanent assemblies of art, support true democracies in extreme difficulty against multinationals and raise the world against false democracies that destroy, rage, export fake democracy. Achilles and Hector, the thumos, the anger, must die: Patroclus, the sweetness willing to do anything, must survive. Your return coincides with joining NSEAE Kolektivne. How does this collective reflect or extend your past intellectual battles? I am the conducator maximus of the Kolektivne NSEAE, of Serbian model. The Kolektivne has a Prezidium of 15 members and divides the 3,000 militants and 30,000 contacts into 50 geopolitical groups, with constant voting rights. What distinguishes the Neon-vanguardist movement from the KNSEAE? The KNSEAE is militant and organizational; it’s devoted to internationalism and considers the influence of italian nationalist culture equal to the culture of Oman and Lesotho; having emerged from the krisis, that is, from the avanguardist’s destruens phase, it’s now able to dedicate all its subversive/subversive energies to its construens function. Having written on ancient juridical ethics and modern social philosophies, where do you personally locate hope in contemporary discourse? The contemporary does not exist. After the end of the modern era and of every modernist aesthetic ontology, decreed by Zygmunt Bauman and contemporary new sociology, every post-modernist meta-philosopher - like Jencks with architecture, Danto with art or Fukuyama with history - is tempted to impose the definitive sanction of death sentence on the object of his philosophy, without taking into theoretical consideration the lesson contained in La condition postmoderne and in the beautiful and unknown Le postmoderne expliqué aux enfants by Jean-François Lyotard: the core of post-modernism consists in the admission of the fall of every «métarécits», that is, the delegitimization of the metanarratives of modernity and of the conception and of «univers(o)ality». Hyper-modernism, aware of Lyotard's distinction between the death of discourse and the death of meta-discourse, resuscitates art and buries Danto's everything goes: against post-modernism rises the hyper-modernism of Virilio, Baudrillard and Lipovetsky; against post-modern rises the hyper-modern of Bauman (liquid society) and Beck (risk society) [post-modernity has always maintained a certain confusing vagueness between theory (post-modernism) or historical space (post-modern)]. Hyper-modernism, like every neo-avant-garde millennials (an italian example is my neon-avant-garde), abandons - as consolidated - the debate on anti-«univers(o)alism» and inserts itself in antagonistic continuity with modernism, unlike post-modernism, unleashing its Katjuša missiles in the direction of delegitimizing every form of «canon» and «tradition». However, hyper-modernism is a movement of the krisis. Once the krisis is over, every avant-garde/neo-avant-garde, self-criticizing, commits artistic suicide, and, finally, latemodernism enters the field. What is latemodernism? First of all, it is, at the same time, theory and historical space: it surpasses post-modernism and hyper-modernism on the left by declaring the definitive end of ontology and the total detachment from modernism, natural or caricatural; it goes beyond post-modernity and hyper-modernity on the right, making official the transition from the modern era to the latemodern era (as a historical repetition of the transition between the ancient era and the lateancient era). If you could only preserve one of your books in a future archive, which would it be—and why? Il pragmatismo analitico di Giovanni Vailati. Because the nineteenth-century lombard philosopher anticipates by a hundred years the conclusions of the US pragmatism of Rorty and Putnam and US analytics. Lombardy, culturally, fucks the US a hundred times. Ah-ah. How do you balance your relentless productivity with the conceptual depth and aesthetic disruption your works are known for? With an IQ of 164 i sleep three hours a night. And like a latemodern tribunus plebis, from the height of the concilia, i ask for the provocatio, untouchable (i’m not blackmailable and, in exchange, i hold an archive of materials useful for making my enemies blackmailable), and i murder artistic senators with an IQ of 80, similar to homines erecti. As you see, Ana, i held a rally, as Massimino l'Abruzzese says. But he keeps his in Abruzzo, i towards the world. My riots will conquer all the world.

Barbaros İrdelmen An interview of Barbaros İrdelmen taken by Irma Kurti BARBAROS İRDELMEN is a writer, poet, translator, and retired medical doctor. He resides in Istanbul, Turkey. His poems have been included in anthologies, poetry festivals and selected books both in Turkey and abroad. He serves as a poetry columnist for Edebiyat Magazin Newspaper, a writer for Kybele Kültür ve Sanat magazine and Pazartesi14 Neyya literary Magazine, a board member of Hedgehog Literature and Thought Magazine, a member of the editorial board for Papirüs Magazine, former writer for Akatalpa Monthly Poetry and Criticism Magazine, former writer of the Literature House and former ORPARS TV Broadcasting and Board Member on YouTube. He is also a member of the Turkish Writers’ Union. Through his initiatives, Poetry Without Borders, published in nearly 40 different languages since 1984, began to be published in Turkish starting from July 2024. He is a member of the translator family of the ITHACA Foundation in Spain. Poet Barbaros İrdelmen's poems mainly focus on people, life, social realities and emotions. Human values, justice, love, losses, nature and sections from life have an important place in his works. He also has poems in which he writes deep lines about social events and human relations with a critical perspective. Philosophical and existential themes, especially death, the transience of life and man's search for himself are also clearly felt in his poems. In addition, he also has poems written on childhood, nostalgia, love, hope and human ties. He delicately handles the small but meaningful details of daily life in his poems, allowing the reader to establish an emotional connection. When and how did you start writing? I started writing regularly late. It was 7-8 years before I retired, when two poet friends known in our country's literary circles, Osman Serhad Erkekli and Serdar Koçak, came to my office to make an appointment and get examined, because they had health problems. After the examination, I told them that I had written some poems, and they wanted to listen to a few of my poems. Then, they said that there is poet inflation in our age, they liked what I wrote, they wanted me to compile it. I compiled my poems I wrote and sent them to the publishing house, they liked them also and my first poetry book was published in 2016. The incident I experienced motivated me and encouraged me to write and in the last 9 years, many anthologies in Turkey and abroad included my poems and nine of my 19 poetry books were published as printed and the ten as e-books online at google books, I still continue to write. You are now a retired medical doctor. Did your profession influence your writing? Yes, I am a retired medical doctor, I come from a highly specialized, hard science background. Due to my profession, night shifts, weekend and holiday shifts, I have had very little free time throughout my working life, but I have always loved reading poetry for as long as I can remember. Before I started writing regularly, I had dozens of poetry books by local and foreign poets in my library, and sometimes my friends and family would get together at home and organize poetry reading nights. Poetry was a happy, relaxing distraction for me at that time. In my working life, until I was almost retired, I would scribble one or two poems a year and put them between the pages of my books. Why do you find literature and especially poetry interesting? Could you please give us information about your own understanding of literature or poetry in general?  Poetry is beauty for me, when we describe any beauty, we say, "Like a poem" or let a poet tell us this. Yes, that's why poetry is the ultimate point of beauty, the ultimate point of creativity. The sudden overflow of our emotions is the wonder of poetry. Poetry is a means of expressing feelings and thoughts in a literary form and expresses the inner thoughts of the poet, the reflections of his mind. Just as love is the ultimate point of all emotions, poetry is the ultimate point of literature. The most attractive aspect of poetry that attracts me is that it reaches beyond time and borders. With words, we can cross continents, oceans, different ages and I think that it should meet with neighboring languages while promoting national poetry. I miss the way people share their thoughts and bring them together with love and peace through multilingual poems. Can you describe the experience of being a translator? Throughout my education, the foreign language I studied in the schools and medical school was predominantly English. After finishing university, I started working in West Germany, at that time there were East and West Germany, I completed my eight-year specialization there, my German was ahead of English. During my professional life, I wrote, translated and compiled various professional articles in local and foreign languages. But my first serious translation was in 1996, when I translated a 644-page German medical textbook into our language, the book remained in the apron pockets or on the desks of medical students and young assistant doctors for years. Translating poetry is very different from translating prose, and for years I hesitated to translate poetry for fear of not being able to fully reflect the poet's feelings or message. When I decided to publish two of my books, Turkish and English, bilingually, I asked my dear poet friend Mesut Şenol to translate them. Afterwards, I started to try translations and share my own poems on digital platforms related to literature. Some of my readers said that my translations were very successful and even better than the poem itself. My courage had increased and I was on a quest. In recent years, I started to send my poems bilingually to digital OPA Monthly Magazine, Our Poetry Archive, they were appreciated and started to be published, and my poems were selected and included in their various anthologies published annually. Last year, my meeting with Flemish poet Germain Droogenbroodt renewed my motivation. I was invited to the "Poems Without Borders" translator family, an activity of the Ithaca Literature Foundation, which he founded in Spain in 1984, so I translate the two most beautiful poems from all over the world, selected by the Ithaca Foundation every month, into our language and publish them in Turkish. I translated the book "The Road of Being" by world poet Germain Droogenbroodt, which has been published in different languages in thirty countries, and it became the 31st country where his book was published. I presented it to him on behalf of Turkish poetry lovers. You are a poetry columnist and a member of the editorial board of various journals and magazines. What do most poets have in common? Today, poets write in many directions and about many different genres. I divide poets into four groups, like the well-known Turkish poet Necip Fazıl Kısakürek. In my opinion, every poem has a main idea and an ornament.  Poems with a beautiful main idea and complete ornamentation are poems that have gone down in the history of literature, written and will be written by first-class master poets. Poets who strive to be good poets are poets who write poems with a main idea and little ornamentation, and we can say that they are 2nd-class poets. Today, more and more ornamented poems are written without a main idea, and they are the ones who have the most, I think it includes 3rd-class poets, I think it may be the answer to your question, and there are 4th-class poets who write poems without a main idea and ornamentation. What is the effect of a beautiful poem on you? Poetry affects me differently, sometimes it leaves an ache inside me, sometimes it ignites a ray of hope, sometimes a line resonates deeply inside me, sometimes a metaphor opens new doors in my mind. I get lost in a line and dive into my own memories, the purest expression of emotions, the flow of words sometimes like music, sometimes hitting like a hard stone... These are the things that affect me. Most of all, I am amazed by the poet's ability to create a huge world with few words.  What are you trying to convey to your readers with your poems? I saw that people in this geography have become estranged from poetry, there are almost no lovers, and unfortunately few people read stories and novels. In these lands, there were wars for tens of centuries in the Roman period and later in the Ottoman period, the Palace's Divan Literature did not leave the palace and did not embrace the people. However, our talented folk poets and folklore are very developed in Anatolia. The strict and unchanging rules and regulations of Divan Literature in our education system in the Republican Period alienated and distanced people from poetry and literature. The Garipler Movement that started with poet Orhan Veli Kınık and his friends sought simplicity as a reaction to Divan Literature, and then the Second News Movement which was influenced by the West, started a new trend in Turkish Poetry.  Today, Turkish Poetry is in a search. Time is becoming increasingly valuable, no one has the luxury of spending time reading long texts anymore. For me, poetry should be easy to understand. In my opinion, poetry should be easy to understand when read by an ordinary citizen who has no interest in literature. If he understands the poem when he reads it, I think that I can attract his attention and make him love it again. I prefer to write short poems with a main idea and story, using simple language with no rhyme but an acoustic flow. May you share an advice for those poets who want to dedicate themselves to writing? I believe that if the new generations love literature and poetry with the education they receive and their quick wit, they will produce much more creative poems. IRMA KURTI is an Albanian poet, writer, lyricist, journalist, and translator and has been writing since she was a child. She is a naturalized Italian and lives in Bergamo, Italy. All her books are dedicated to the memory of her beloved parents, Hasan Kurti and Sherife Mezini, who have supported and encouraged every step of her literary path. Kurti has won numerous literary prizes and awards in Albania, Italy, Switzerland, USA, Philippines, Lebanon and China. She was awarded the Universum Donna International Prize IX Edition 2013 for Literature and received a lifetime nomination as an Ambassador of Peace by the University of Peace, Italian Switzerland. In 2020, she became the honorary president of WikiPoesia, the encyclopedia of poetry. In 2023 she was awarded a Career Award from the Universum Academy Switzerland. She also won the prestigious 2023 Naji Naaman's literary prize for complete work. Irma Kurti is a member of the jury for several literary competitions in Italy. She is also a translator for the Ithaca Foundation in Spain. Irma Kurti has published more than 100 works, including books of poetry, fiction and translations. She is one of the most translated and published Albanian poets. Her books have been translated and published in 20 countries.

Book covers Internationally recognized poet and digital artist Ana S. Gad  (pen name of the Serbian author Dr. Ana Stjelja) proudly announces the Chinese release of her celebrated book “Whisper of the Universe” , a poetic homage to the legendary inventor, Nikola Tesla . This marks the third edition  of the book. The first edition , a Serbian-English bilingual version , was published in Serbia. The second edition , an English-only version , was published internationally by Ukiyoto Publishing . Now, with the Chinese edition , Ana S. Gad continues her mission to bring Tesla’s visionary legacy (and her own poetic vision of Tesla) to readers across cultures — with more translations and editions already underway . “Whisper of the Universe”  (the first ever written and published long poem on Nikola Tesla published as a book) combines evocative poetry with original digital collages  crafted by Ana S. Gad herself, creating a multi-dimensional tribute that bridges art, science, and imagination. The book’s blurb is penned by Prof. Dr. Velimir Abramović , one of the world’s foremost experts on the life and work of Nikola Tesla, adding profound scholarly weight to this artistic celebration. “Tesla dreamed in currents, lived in sparks, and gifted the world with invisible fire. This poem is a humble attempt to echo that eternal flame,”   said Ana S. Gad. The Chinese edition of “Whisper of the Universe”  is now available for purchase through Ukiyoto Publishing at this link . Ana S. Gad About Ana S. Gad: Ana S. Gad (pen name of Dr. Ana Stjelja) is a Dubai-based poet, author, digital artist, and researcher, celebrated for her innovative fusion of literary and visual arts. Her work explores the intersection of creativity, technology, and human emotion, earning recognition across international exhibitions, publications, and literary platforms.

In 1956, Ivo Andrić embarked on a month-long cultural journey to China, marking a powerful moment of East-West literary exchange. His visit—prompted by the commemoration of Chinese literary giant Lu Xun—led to a moving encounter with Serbian literature abroad, and inspired the Nobel laureate to reflect on the unifying force of the written word. Through a letter from Beijing and his essay “Encounter in China,” Andrić captured the timeless connection between distant cultures, now preserved as part of his enduring legacy. In 1956, Ivo Andrić, already the most important living writer in Yugoslav literature and a future Nobel laureate, visited the People’s Republic of China as part of a cultural delegation. The occasion was the twentieth anniversary of the death of the renowned Chinese writer and reformer Lu Xun—considered the father of modern Chinese literature. Shanghai in 1960s (Pinterest) Andrić’s visit to China lasted about a month, during which he stayed in Beijing and Shanghai. For him, this encounter with the Far East was much more than a protocol visit. It was, as he would later write, a “meeting through words”—a meeting of cultures, ideals, and literary spirits that, though distant, were deeply connected by the universal language of art. Lu Xun (Wikipedia / Public Domain) In the museum dedicated to Lu Xun in Beijing, Andrić discovered a book by the Serbian writer Laza Lazarević. That moment moved him deeply and inspired him to write a short essay titled “Encounter in China,” in which he emphasized the power of the written word as a bridge that connects people, cultures, and epochs. Lu Xun Musuem in Beijing (Wikipedia / Public Domain) It is also recorded that Andrić wrote a letter from Beijing to Milica Babić (then Jovanović), his longtime friend and later wife. The letter, beginning with the words “Dear friend...,” was written in Cyrillic and reflects his impressions of China, along with a note about a porcelain Buddha—a symbol of contemplation and silence. Ivo Andrić and Milica Babić Andrić ( Wikipedia.org/Stevan_Kragujević  page, with the permission of Tanja Kragujević Although rarely mentioned in official biographies, this visit to China reveals the breadth of Andrić’s spirit and his deep interest in universal themes: suffering, dignity, and the quiet achievement of understanding through art. Serbian Cultural Center Ivo Andrić in Beijing (Embassy of Serbia in Beijing) Today, the letter from Beijing and the text “Encounter in China” are preserved as part of his cultural legacy in the Ivo Andrić Museum in Belgrade. Meanwhile, the exhibition “Ivo Andrić – A Man Beyond Time,” held at the Serbian Cultural Center in Beijing, continues to bring this significant yet often overlooked encounter to life. In a time that often emphasizes differences, Andrić’s journey to China reminds us of what connects us: the word, the silence, and the art that knows no borders. Article by: Dr. Ana Stjelja

This significant literary and cultural event was hosted by the Darna Museum on the Banks of the Nile As the world celebrated World Book Day, the Nile in Cairo witnessed the launch of the first Afro-Asian Literary Forum on the evening of Wednesday, April 23, 2025, hosted by the Darna Museum. This inaugural edition offered a special opportunity to engage with the rich literary culture of India through the lens of translation and its challenges. The event opened with artist, critic, and novelist Abdel Razek Akkasha—the founder of the Darna Museum—presenting the museum’s journey since its inception. Like many artistic dreams, the museum began as a vision that the Franco-Egyptian artist turned into a reality, transforming it into a cultural home for thinkers and creatives. Akkasha guided his guests through the museum’s two floors, explaining his philosophy behind the selection of artifacts and detailing their African, Asian, European, and Latin American origins. The first edition of the Afro-Asian Literary Forum gathered an exceptional group of writers, academics, translators, and artists from Egypt, India, Morocco, and Bahrain, with recorded messages sent in from the UAE and Indonesia. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, the forum’s coordinator, orchestrated the three-part event. The first session was dedicated to academic presentations, the second to the launch of the Malayalam translation of his book, and the final scene to the forum’s and museum’s honoring of the guests and participants. Dr. Abbas K. P. presented a paper titled: Challenges in Translating Poetry Dr. Abbas K. P. presented a paper titled Challenges in Translating Poetry, focusing on the aesthetic and rhetorical hurdles faced by translators when conveying beauty from one language to another. He cited the structural differences between Arabic—a Semitic language rich in internal rhythm and metaphor—and Malayalam—a Dravidian language with distinct syntactic structures and a tendency for direct expression in modern poetry. These disparities, he argued, make it difficult to transfer poetic constructs without compromising meaning or beauty. Dr. Abdul Jaleel M Dr. Abdul Jaleel M. spoke from his experience on Cultural Transfer in Literary Translation: A Case Study of Arabic-Indian Texts, examining how translation acts as a mirror of culture, and the challenges and transformations it undergoes. Dr. Mohammed Abid U. P. Dr. Mohammed Abid U. P. concluded the Indian contributions with a paper titled Literary Translation from Arabic to Malayalam: An Overview, reviewing the history, milestones, and achievements of Arabic-Malayalam literary translation. He highlighted major translated titles, beginning with works by Tawfiq al-Hakim, Taha Hussein, and Naguib Mahfouz, up to the present, including the Malayalam translation of Back Garden, a novel by Ashraf Aboul-Yazid. From Morocco, theater critic and translator Ahmed Belkhairi addressed the issue of translating terminology, drawing from his books such as Glossary of Theater Terms, Theatrical Terminology in Arab Culture, and Semiotics of Theater. Dr. Moghith It is often said that no judgment is passed in Medina while Malik resides there—and similarly, no discourse on translation in Egypt would be complete without consulting Dr. Anwar Moghith, former president of the National Center for Translation. With a long history of translating from French and enriching Arab culture, he spoke specifically on the challenges of translating fiction. He noted that accuracy in translation does not necessarily equate to clarity, and that translated works often lose the resonance they hold in their original language due to this lack of clarity. Dr. Moghith began his speech by recalling his early encounters with Abdel Razek Akkasha, whom he met during his doctoral studies in Paris, where Akkasha had founded a vital cultural gallery that became a hub for Arab writers, artists, and filmmakers. From Serbia and Indonesia Nia S. Amira In her message from Jakarta, Indonesia, poet and translator Nia S. Amira stated that translators face significant challenges in capturing nuances, maintaining style, and adapting to cultural contexts. Linguistic structures, idioms, and vocabulary differences compound these challenges. As a journalist and poet for decades, Amira spends most of her time translating and editing texts and emphasized the importance of thoroughly verifying timelines, saying that she pours her soul into her work. Dr. Ana Stjelja Serbian poet, author, and translator Dr. Ana Stjelja, now based in Dubai, sent her greetings to the forum and chose to speak about translating the work of Serbian novelist and traveler Jelena J. Dimitrijević, particularly her journey to India. Ashraf Aboul-Yazid previously translated her travel writings about Egypt. In her speech, playwright Safaa Al-Bayli expressed her gratitude for the initiative to translate poetry into Indian languages and hoped that theater would receive similar attention in the future. Poet Hazeen Omar shared his joy at the event and praised the Darna Museum for creating a night reminiscent of One Thousand and One Nights. He described the museum as an independent cultural institution that reflects the artistic and humanistic passions of its founder, Abdel Razek Akkasha: “He built a museum inspired by the creativity of humanity and organized this unique encounter open to the cultures of Egypt, India, and the world—an extension of his artistic legacy marked by his unique imprint and spirit.” Source and Photo : Silk Road Today