Join Yu Yoyo, one of the most important young voices in contemporary Chinese poetry, for an evening of bilingual readings in Chinese and English and discussion alongside translator Dave Haysom and poet A.K. Blakemore who have collaboratively translated Yoyo’s work.

Regarded as a representative of the post-‘90s generation, known for her mature voice and subtle treatment of modern femininity, Yu Yoyo’s poetry has a lithe, darting brilliance, jumping from arresting idea to arresting idea with electrifying intent. She has created a poetic language which has seemingly never not known the internet – its caustic, flat wit; its complete lack of punctuation; its blunt delivery and its incredible linguistic speed.

This event is presented by Manchester Metropolitan University in partnership with the Poetry Translation Centre, and is part of a tour marking the publication of a new collection of Yoyo’s poetry in English. My Tenantless Body is translated by Dave Haysom and UK poet AK Blakemore, and published by the Poetry Translation Centre.

Born in 1990, Sichuanese poet Yu Yoyo had already begun to earn critical attention before she turned sixteen, publishing dozens of poems in Poetry, Poetry Monthly and other prestigious publications in China. She studied business management and accounting in university, but never gave up on her long-standing passion for poetry and finally embraced her life’s calling upon graduation. She is now seen as a representative voice among the post-90’s generation, especially known for her mature voice and subtle treatment of modern femininity. Her collection Seven Years was published in 2012, and she currently lives in Chengdu.

A.K. Blakemore is the author of two full-length collections: Humbert Summer (Eyewear, 2015) and Fondue (Offord Road Books, 2018). Her work has been appeared in magazines and journals including Poetry London, Ambit and Magma, and has been anthologised in Bloodaxe’s Voice Recognition: 21 Poets for the 21st Century, Stop/Sharpening/Your/Knives and The Best of British Poetry 2015. She was a winner of Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award 2007 and 2008. A K Blakemore lives and works in London.

Dave Haysom is a literary translator and editor who has been living in Beijing since 2007. He first started publishing translations online at spittingdog.net in 2012. In 2014 he became joint managing editor of Pathlight, a quarterly journal of Chinese literature in translation, and in 2015 he helped launch “Read Paper Republic”, a year-long initiative to publish one translation online every week. He has also written articles and essays on contemporary Chinese literature for publications such as Words Without Borders and China Dialogue.