Carcanet Press - Midnight's Gate

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Bei Dao, described by Michael Hofmann as ‘one of the great poets of our time’, has gained international acclaim for his haunting interior poetic landscapes. Now he brings to the essay the elliptical precision of his poetry, combined with a diarist’s openness and humour.

These twenty pieces form a poet’s travelogue – since his exile from China in 1989, Bei Dao has lived in seven countries and visited many others. In his tales and descriptions of cities such as Copenhagen, Durham, Johannesburg, New York, Paris and Prague and in his stories of ordinary Chinese immigrants, as well as of literary, artistic and political figures, his thoughts and anecdotes convey a unique charm and insight.

Bei Dao

Bei Dao, pen name of Zhao Zhenkai, was born in Beijing in 1949. Hailed as "the soul of post-Mao poetry" (Yunte Huang) and praised for his "intense lyricism" (Pankaj Mishra), Bei Dao is one of contemporary China's most distinguished poets and the cofounder of the landmark underground literary journal Jintian ... read more

Chris Mattison

Matthew Fryslie

Matthew Fryslie is an Assistant Professor at Kainan University, Taiwan. ... read more

Praise for Bei Dao 'Dao's first book-length poem transports us through the years, countries and memories that followed his 1989 expulsion from China (his poems were recited by students in Tiananmen Square). The restlessness of these 34 cantos, which dart between personal experience and historical moment, creates a vital expression of the exile's condition.'

Maria Crawford, Financial Times
'This beautiful, harrowing, frequently astonishing and unsettling long poem, eleven years in the making, succeeding and deepening a prodigious body of accomplished earlier work, is ample evidence that the Nobel Prize for Bei Dao is surely somewhat overdue.'

Stuart Walton, Hong Kong Review of Books
'A lyrical masterpiece.'

Carol Muske-Dukes
'Bei Dao is among the strongest poetic impressions of my lifetime. To me, his poems are the work of a genius, a genius of juxtaposing, of simplicity, of acceleration, of tunneling through emblem and image.'

Michael Hofmann
'As with stereograms (magic-eye art), if we look at them long enough, a three-dimensional view of Bei Dao's itinerant life in exile comes in and out of focus. From Beijing to West Berlin, Copenhagen to Hong Kong, the narrative thrust of this collection zigzags through his lifetime, while the 34 cantos themselves (in Jeffrey Yang's propulsive translation) are a nebula of worldly experience.'
Jack Hargreaves, China Book Review
'The language of Bei Dao's memoir, seamlessly translated by fellow poet Yang, is elegantly simple and guilelessly accessible....Winter white cabbage, vinyl records, pet rabbits, banned books, and first and last 'I love yous' provide intimate glimpses that 'open up' to reveal extraordinary, immediate testimony of challenges survived in a life intensely lived.'
Booklist of City Gate, Open Up (US edition, published by New Directions) 'This is a nuanced account of China in the era of the Cultural Revolution, seen through one young man's eyes. Since that young man became a poet, it is also beautifully textured, full of the sounds, sights, and scents of a Beijing that is no more.'
Publishers Weekly of City Gate, Open Up (US edition, published by New Directions)

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Midnight's Gate Bei Dao Edited by Chris Mattison Translated by Matthew Fryslie Imprint: Anvil Press Poetry Publisher: Carcanet Press Available as: Paperback (272 pages) (Pub. Nov 2007) 9780856463945 Out of Stock Description Author Reviews Bei Dao, described by Michael Hofmann as ‘one of the great poets of our time’, has gained international acclaim for his haunting interior poetic landscapes. Now he brings to the essay the elliptical precision of his poetry, combined with a diarist’s openness and humour. These twenty pieces form a poet’s travelogue – since his exile from China in 1989, Bei Dao has lived in seven countries and visited many others. In his tales and descriptions of cities such as Copenhagen, Durham, Johannesburg, New York, Paris and Prague and in his stories of ordinary Chinese immigrants, as well as of literary, artistic and political figures, his thoughts and anecdotes convey a unique charm and insight. Bei Dao Bei Dao, pen name of Zhao Zhenkai, was born in Beijing in 1949. Hailed as "the soul of post-Mao poetry" (Yunte Huang) and praised for his "intense lyricism" (Pankaj Mishra), Bei Dao is one of contemporary China's most distinguished poets and the cofounder of the landmark underground literary journal Jintian ... read more Chris Mattison ... read more Matthew Fryslie Matthew Fryslie is an Assistant Professor at Kainan University, Taiwan. ... read more Praise for Bei Dao 'Dao's first book-length poem transports us through the years, countries and memories that followed his 1989 expulsion from China (his poems were recited by students in Tiananmen Square). The restlessness of these 34 cantos, which dart between personal experience and historical moment, creates a vital expression of the exile's condition.' Maria Crawford, Financial Times 'This beautiful, harrowing, frequently astonishing and unsettling long poem, eleven years in the making, succeeding and deepening a prodigious body of accomplished earlier work, is ample evidence that the Nobel Prize for Bei Dao is surely somewhat overdue.' Stuart Walton, Hong Kong Review of Books 'A lyrical masterpiece.' Carol Muske-Dukes 'Bei Dao is among the strongest poetic impressions of my lifetime. To me, his poems are the work of a genius, a genius of juxtaposing, of simplicity, of acceleration, of tunneling through emblem and image.' Michael Hofmann 'As with stereograms (magic-eye art), if we look at them long enough, a three-dimensional view of Bei Dao's itinerant life in exile comes in and out of focus. From Beijing to West Berlin, Copenhagen to Hong Kong, the narrative thrust of this collection zigzags through his lifetime, while the 34 cantos themselves (in Jeffrey Yang's propulsive translation) are a nebula of worldly experience.' Jack Hargreaves, China Book Review 'The language of Bei Dao's memoir, seamlessly translated by fellow poet Yang, is elegantly simple and guilelessly accessible....Winter white cabbage, vinyl records, pet rabbits, banned books, and first and last 'I love yous' provide intimate glimpses that 'open up' to reveal extraordinary, immediate testimony of challenges survived in a life intensely lived.' Booklist of City Gate, Open Up (US edition, published by New Directions) 'This is a nuanced account of China in the era of the Cultural Revolution, seen through one young man's eyes. Since that young man became a poet, it is also beautifully textured, full of the sounds, sights, and scents of a Beijing that is no more.' Publishers Weekly of City Gate, Open Up (US edition, published by New Directions)	Share this... Quick Links Carcanet Poetry Carcanet Classics Carcanet Fiction Carcanet Film Lives and Letters PN Review Video Carcanet Celebrates 50 Years! The Carcanet Blog We've Moved! read more Books of the Year read more One Little Room: Peter McDonald read more Collected Poems: Mimi Khalvati read more Invisible Dog: Fabio Morbito, translated by Richard Gwyn read more Dante's Purgatorio: Philip Terry read more
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Midnight's Gate

Bei Dao

Edited by Chris Mattison

Translated by Matthew Fryslie