Her View Friday
Yellow Arrow Publishing supports women-identifying writers from a wide variety of backgrounds, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes us stronger. Women’s voices have historically been underrepresented in literature, and we aim to elevate those voices and stories through our programs, publications, and support.
Part of our mission in supporting and uplifting women writers is to promote the Yellow Arrow community’s individual accomplishments. We’d like to further expand that support and promotion outside of our Yellow Arrow publications. Twice a month, we’d like to give a shout out to those within the Yellow Arrow community who recently published:
single-author publications
single pieces in journals, anthologies, etc., as well as prizes/awards, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews
You can support our authors by reading this blog and their work, sharing their news, and commenting below or on the blog. Congratulations to all the included authors. We are so proud of you!
Every writer has a story to tell and every story is worth telling.
Author: Yuemin He
Tell us about yourself: I have published on East Asian literature and visual art, Asian American literature, Buddhist American literature, composition pedagogy, and translational studies. My poems and poetry translations have appeared in more than 30 literary magazines, journals, and anthologies, including The Cincinnati Review, The Massachusetts Review, the Oxford Anthology of Modern and Contemporary American Poetry (2nd ed.), and Yellow Arrow Journal. In October 2024, my book of poetry translations, I’ve Seen the Yellow Crane: Selected Poems of Zhang Zhihao, will be released by Foreign Languages Press in Beijing, China. Currently, I am an English professor at Northern Virginia Community College.
Where are you from: Chengdu, China
What describes your main writing space: challenging, enabling, and fulfilling
Tell us about your publication: I’ve Seen the Yellow Crane: Selected Poems of Zhang Zhihao features 183 poems, selected mainly from the award-winning poetry collection, Wild Flowers on the Plateau, and the new poetry collection, The Everlasting Pot, both by contemporary Chinese poet Zhang Zhihao. I’ve Seen the Yellow Crane showcases the poet’s remarkable ability to stay close with daily life. It unravels the subtlest meanings from trivial happenings in the streets and alleys and the natural world, and then conveys them in an extraordinary poetic language. It transforms quotidian realities into poetic subject matter, vivid images, and highly relatable feelings. Ultimately, it offers the readers a vicarious experience of sizzling youth along the Yangtze River and the wide Jiang Han Plain, capacious understanding of the multitudes, and subtle critique of the social and human foibles. This book marks the first book-length English-language translation of Zhang’s poetry, providing access to the writings of a major contemporary Chinese poet.
Why this book? Why now? How did it happen for you: I had translated classic Chinese poetry, such as The Book of Songs and a Cao Zhi poem, and published my translations in Metamorphoses, Ezra, and Rattle Poetry. During the pandemic I decided to translate poetry that was more relevant to our daily life. I translated nearly a score of modern and contemporary poets, Chinese and American (such as Louise Glück, Lydia Child, Sonia Greenfield, Maisie Williams, Hai Zi, Zhang Zhihao, and Chi Li). Eventually I decided to focus on Chinese to English translation because of my excellent Chinese language background and years of formal English education and teaching experiences. I first translated Zhang’s pandemic poems and after the pandemic I moved onto his broader subjects. Translators are restricted by the need to get the original author’s permission to translate and publish their work. For instance, my friend and I did a unique translation of Hai Zi’s poem “Facing the Sea,” but because of the lack of authorization, we could not get it published. I was lucky that I like Zhang’s writing style, and I did get his permission. So far I have written two academic articles on Zhang’s poetry and published more than 30 poem translations in literary magazines in this country, Great Britain, and the Netherlands. I have always been reading, writing, and translating but now I am more focused.
What advice do you have for other writers: I started with a novel, which was never published, and it took me four years. I am leaning toward writing shorter pieces. I also only write what I like to write and translate what I like to translate. I have always entwined my teaching, creative activities, and academic research into one big strand; this means opportunities are there one way or another. In the past month, I have written several songs and AI-ed them into recordings. Very fun. They can be found on my Twitter @HebeR32123. I just keep doing what I like, which is writing.
What else are you working on/doing that you’d like to share: Gardening, cooking, walking, reminiscing my dog that passed away earlier this year, reviewing academic articles for two journals, being an editor for our college’s magazine, and volunteering at MLA as an indexer.
Yellow Arrow (past and present) board, staff, interns, authors, residents, and instructors alike! Got a publication coming out? Let us help celebrate for you in Her View Friday.
Single-author publications: here.
Single pieces as well as prizes/awards, book reviews, and podcasts/interviews: here.
Please read the instructions on each form carefully; we look forward to congratulating you!
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Yellow Arrow Publishing is a nonprofit supporting women-identifying writers through publication and access to the literary arts. You can support us as we AMPLIFY women-identifying creatives this year by purchasing one of our publications or a workshop from the Yellow Arrow bookstore, for yourself or as a gift, joining our newsletter, following us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, or subscribing to our YouTube channel. Donations are appreciated via PayPal (staff@yellowarrowpublishing.com), Venmo (@yellowarrowpublishing), or US mail (PO Box 65185, Baltimore, Maryland 21209). More than anything, messages of support through any one of our channels are greatly appreciated.