Yongming Zhai

Zhai Yongming (born 1955) is a Chinese poet, essayist and screenwriter from Chengdu, in the southwest Sichuan Province. Born during the Maoist era, Zhai was forcibly sent away for two years to do manual labor in the countryside as part of the Cultural Revolution, eventually returning to Chengdu to work as a poet. Her poems began getting published in 1981, but her rise to critical acclaim came with the release of her poem cycle 'Woman' (published between 1984 and 1986), featuring one of the first instances of a socially-aware woman expressing her societal perspectives in Chinese literature. She has been marked by scholars as a foundational Chinese feminist poet, being the first to explore elements of gender and feminine identity beyond the scope of the male-oriented gaze; 'Woman' has even been appointed as the starting point for the subsequent 'Black Tornado' era of confessional Chinese women writers. Among her most notable works include poetry works are 'Jing'an Village (1985),' 'Plain Songs in the Dark Night (1997),' 'Collected Poems by Zhai Yongming (1994),' 'The Most Tactful Words (2009),' and 'Roaming the Fuchun Mountains with Huang Gongwang (2015).'

Though she was born during the Cultural Revolution's era of 'Misty Poets (朦胧诗人)' writers, scholars tentatively agree that she belongs to the succeeding 'Newborn Generation (xinsheng dai 新生代)' poets as she had pushed their literary style further.Zhai lived in the United States briefly from 1990 to 1992, and later in her career she opened a bar in Chengdu called White Nights, which became a well-known hub for artists to congregate at during cultural festivals. She often travels between Chengdu, Europe and the United States for international conferences and poetry festivals.Zhai has screenwriter credits through co-writing with filmmaker Jia Zhangke on his movie 24 City, and is a co-founder of Wings, a Chinese feminist poetry journal.