Graywolf Press to Publish Liu Xiaobo Poetry Collection

By Maryann Yin on Galley Cat, December 10, 2010


Graywolf Press has acquired the world rights (excluding Chinese languages) to a poetry collection by imprisoned Chinese poet, Liu Xiaobo. Today the poet received the Nobel Peace Prize, but could not accept the award in person.

Here’s more from the release: “June Fourth Elegies is divided into twenty sections, each section an ‘anniversary offering’ for the June 4, 1989 massacre at Tiananmen Square. Xiaobo was one of the leading activists of the non-violent protest at Tiananmen, and was one of the architects of the Charter 08 manifesto. Much of Liu’s writing has been confiscated due to his many imprisonments for his public criticism of the Chinese government; he has not been able to publish June Fourth Elegies in China.”

Poet Jeffrey Yang will translate the collection. Literary agent Peter Bernstein negotiated the deal with Jeffrey Shotts and publisher Fiona McCrae. The press plans to release the collection in 2012.

Similarly, Harvard University Press will publish a selection of works by Liu Xiaobo in 2012. The untitled anthology will contain poetry, essays, and social commentary.