Poets from the UK and China have joined forces for an international festival of poetry and translation.
UK Poet Laureate and University of Leeds Professor of Poetry Simon Armitage was part of a Leeds delegation at Lines of Transport: The Chengdu-Leeds Poetry Exchange.
The event was co-hosted by Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU), Poetry@Leeds and the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing.
SWJTU, a key University of Leeds strategic partner, has hosted a Joint School in Engineering and Computer Science for more than 10 years.
The poetry festival included readings, cultural exchange and discussion about poetry and translation.
Professor Hai Sui Yu, Leeds’ Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor, who is also a published poet, was a driving force behind the festival alongside Chinese poet Professor Bai Hua, who is also a University of Leeds Cheney Creative Fellow.
The Leeds delegation, led by Professor John Whale from the School of English and Professor Frances Weightman, Director of the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing, was supported by the University’s Global Research Development Office.
Professor Yu said: “The poetry festival was a unique platform to expand international collaboration with our important strategic partner Southwest Jiaotong University into the field of art and culture. It also provided a rare opportunity for poets from the UK and China to showcase their work and share their artistic experiences and perspectives.
“By combining the power of cultural exchange with input from students who are gaining experience of real-world translation, we have opened many doors and enhanced partnership and dialogue between our two countries.”
Xuedong Yan, President of Southwest Jiaotong University, said: “This poetry meeting not only promotes academic exchanges between the two universities in the fields of literary translation, comparative literature and cross-cultural studies, but also continues to deepen the comprehensive strategic cooperation between Southwest Jiaotong University and the University of Leeds, contribute to Sino-British people-to-people exchanges, and contribute warm and firm cultural strength to the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.”
Students use translation skills
Teams from Leeds and Chengdu translated the poets' work in the lead-up to the festival, exploring how nuances of language can influence interpretation.
Masters students from Leeds’ School of English and Centre for Translation Studies were led by Creative Fellow and experienced translator Austin Woerner. Students and staff from SWJTU were led by Yang Anwen.
Austin said: “This was a truly collaborative process where we discussed poems together and shared our reactions. These conversations shaped how the poems were translated. Each student became a co-translator and will be credited when the poems are published.”
Wanqi Zheng, an English Literature Masters student at Leeds, said: “I learned a lot from this experience, especially about the subtleties between different English words, for example glittering, shimmering and sparkling. Poetry provides us with insight into philosophical questions and attitudes towards life.
“We all have different interpretations when we translate. I have my own version and my teacher has his version. We also have translation via AI and discuss how different those translations are. By working together, we inspire one another.”
Poets and academics unite
The festival poets were brought together through the Cheney Fellowship Endowment, a donation from University of Leeds alumnus Peter Cheney and his wife Susan Cheney to facilitate international collaboration and promote research and creative thinking.
Alongside Professors Armitage, Whale and Yu, participating poets from Leeds included Kimberly Campanello, Caitlin Stobie, Zaffar Kunial, Jess Richards, Helen Mort and Shara McCallum, an American/Jamaican poet and Cheney Fellow.
Participating poets in the Chengdu delegation included Bai Hua, Jidi Majia, Li Shaojun, Chen Xianfa, Li Yuansheng, Yang Ke, Na Ye, Lu Ye, Shu Cai, Gong Xuemin, Yang Jian, Lin Xue and Huang Shun.
The University of Leeds has a rich international poetic heritage, with Geoffrey Hill, Tony Harrison and Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka among former staff and students.
Funding has been secured for a new National Poetry Centre, spearheaded by Professor Armitage, at the University of Leeds’ Trinity St David’s Church on Woodhouse Lane. The centre will provide a national hub for poetry in the UK – connecting the art form to people from all backgrounds and cultures.
Professor Whale said: “Lines of Transport was a wonderful opportunity to develop our relationship in poetry with Southwest Jiaotong University and it comes at an exciting time in our history when the University’s long-standing centre Poetry@Leeds has the opportunity to benefit from a special partnership with the National Poetry Centre based on the University’s campus.”
The University of Leeds this year announced the return of the Caster Cultural Fellowships in Poetry, reaffirming its long-standing commitment to poetry as a site of creative practice, research excellence and public engagement.
Further information
Please contact Richard Abbott in the University of Leeds press office at R.Abbott1@leeds.ac.uk
For more information, visit the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing website.
Read a translation of Professor Bai Hua’s poem Northern Heart of England.