TrulyGrace

Huang Xiang--Western Dream Nest

This afternoon, my friend Debbie and I spent an afternoon with Wellesley and other women's college graduates sharing lunch and listening to Huang Xiang, a Chinese poet who with his wife, Zhang Ling, has found political asylum here in Pittsburgh.  Mr. Huang has been likened to a Chinese Walt Whitman, and he was delighted to present his poems for a group of mostly ladies (except for three, as was pointed out by the men themselves). His poetry performance had his voice and gestures rising and falling, curving and swooping.

After the performance, we spoke about libraries of international poetry, East Asian poetry, and job hunting.

They even invited Deb, her friend Eve, and me into their home, which is painted with poetry all over the outside.  The door is painted with Chinese calligraphy and English phrases, including "Dream Nest."

We had a chance to look at some of his poetry (in English and Chinese), newspaper articles, calligraphy, as well as videos of a recent visit to Venezia, Italia. We all left this afternoon further enriched by the experience.

posted by Grace @ 11/19/2005 11:29:00 PM