Xi Chuan, China

Xi Chuan (official name Liu Jun), poet, essayist, translator, was born in the City of Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, China, in 1963. He studied English literature at Peking University from 1981 to 1985, and later worked as an editor for the magazine Huangqiu (Globe Monthly) for eight years. He is now the professor of Classical Chinese Literature at the School of Liberal Arts, Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Xi Chuan is one of the most influencial poets in contemporay China. He has been well-known in the Chinese literary scene since his student days. In 1988, he founded, with friends, the unofficial poetry journal Qingxiang (Tendency), which was, however, banned after three issues. From 1990 to 1995 he worked as an editor for the unofficial magazine Xiandai Hanshi (Modern Chinese Poetry). He is now one of the two Chief-editors of the magazine Dangdai Gouji Shitan(Contemporay Poetry International). Xi Chuan has been awarded numerous prizes, including: in 1994, the Modern Chinese Poetry Prize; in 1999, one of the top ten winners at the Weimar International Essay Prize Contest; in 2001, the national Lu Xun Prize. A series of grants made his long visits abroad possible, in various places. He was the Curator for Chinese Poetry of the 2009 Frankfurt Bookfair.