Fang Miaohong
PAPAS GEFÜHL FÜR POESIE
Spät am Abend,
sagt mein Vater,
war er auf dem Berg an einem Teich,
hat beim Angeln zugeschaut.
Rund um den Fischteich
sind ein Dutzend Männer gesessen.
Er sagt, ihre Seelen
waren alle im Wasser.
Er sagt, das Angeln kostet 150 Yuan.
Er hat kein Ticket gekauft.
Er sagt, ohne Geld kann er auch angeln.
Denn seine Seele
sei mit den anderen Seelen zusamengewesen.
2024.1.7
Übersetzt von MW im März 2024
Dear poetry fans,
On Febr. 10, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published my article on the poet Nan Ren 南人 (scroll to p. 5; there are a few minor mistakes in the German article, I couldn’t see the final print version before it came out: the first poem has one line added; and Shaanxi became Shanxi). Last week I decided to write a version in English for the MCLC Resource Center.
This is a newspaper article, so there are no footnotes. The reference to Maghiel van Crevel was not included in the German print version. I have thought about many names of poets I should have mentioned, and other things I should have said. Anyway, such a publication in a major daily in Germany is a big success, a big deal in international exposure for current Chinese poetry. I hope you like it. Please comment, thank you!
Sources: Here is a link to the poems in the article including the original Chinese versions. And here are some of the paintings by Huang Li 黄丽 that accompany the poems in the book. The pictures look much better in the book. Nan Ren has sent them to me in high resolution. He and Xiron have authorized me to look for publishers in Europe and beyond. I hope to find publishers for the German speaking and for the English speaking Pawnshop. Here is a link to about 50 poems in Chinese with some translations in English or German. Here is a link to the announcement from last May, when the book was published in China. The publisher is Xiron Poetry Club, 磨铁读诗会. Xiron is a big publisher, led by the poet Shen Haobo 沈浩波. But Xiron is private and has to purchase an ISBN for each book from a state publisher. The state publisher is on the cover, Xiron Poetry Club is on the first page. Both have to avoid publishing anything that could get the book pulled or forbidden.
Nan Ren is a legend. He doesn’t like to say when he was born. 1970, found that somewhere. Not important. Nan Ren is a pen name. The nán of ‘south‘ and the rén of ‘person‘. What does that mean? His family comes from the south, somewhere south of the Long River, the Yangtse. Nanren, southern people, was the lowest stratum in the Mongol empire. The Mongols captured the south last, all the better jobs had been assigned to other people already. Almost every poet writing in Chinese has a pen name. People have more than one name in Chinese, even non-artists. It was that way in Confucius‘ times. And in the occident, people also had several names, at least prominent people, all the way from Homer.
Fang Miaohong
ENTKOMMEN
In einem Hotel in Berlin
ist das weltweit größte,
11,2 Millionen britische Pfund teure
kegelförmige Aquarium
am frühen Morgen plötzlich geborsten,
über 1500 tropische Fische
sind in die Lobby
und bis draußen geflossen.
Über die Ursache des seltsamen Schadens
gab es viele Diskussionen.
Jemand sagte, es war ein Temperatursturz,
andere sagten, Menschen hätten das Ding attakiert.
Ich meine, man hat die größten Verdächtigen
außer Acht gelassen –
– die Fische.
Übersetzt von MW im Februar 2023
伊沙：方妙红是西外西班牙语专业本科毕业生，不算我的亲学生。大概是2015年，长安诗歌节进西外活动，她作为现场听众，听到口语诗从而改变了自己的诗风；2018年，《新诗典》西外中秋诗会，她获得＂校园诗人奖＂从而首次入典；2023年，她再次入典时已经从西班牙留学归来并在北京磨铁公司入职做编辑。希望她今后的写作与事业之路也能如此步步高。
高歌：这样的自由逃亡，却抵达了死亡……
徐江点评《新诗典》方妙红《死亡逃生》：与诗而言，新闻通常是无趣的，哪怕是某些奇闻。只有一种情况除外——当你用诗人的新奇目光看待整个世界。
Fang Miaohong
PRANK
When I was small
my favorite prank was
to ring the bell at someone else’s door
and run away
When you grow up
and ring the bell at someone’s door
you have to go in
Translated by MW, October 2018
伊沙主持 | 新世纪诗典8一周联展（2018.10.14——10.20）
中国大好き 