Each week, we'll feature an especially interesting event in the neighborhood based on the event submissions we get, and what we hear about while we're out on the beat. If you want to be considered for next week, please submit your event here.
Chinese poet and dissident Yu Xinqiao might not be a household name in the United States, but in China, he's a huge hit. For the first time ever, San Franciscans can get insight into his work as he makes a rare appearance in the city.
From 5:30–7pm Thursday, Yu will give a free reading (with translation into English) at the Chinese Culture Center (CCC) inside the Hilton Financial District (750 Kearny St., third floor). He's coming to the United States for visits at Harvard and Yale, among other locations, as part of the launch of The Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature, which was recently reviewed in the New York Times. CCC curator and artistic director Abby Chen got wind that he might also travel to Los Angeles and knew he had a lot of fans here, so she asked him to make a trip to the city.
Many people in China already knew about Yu's poetry, but last year, a popular songwriting competition launched his star further. "Immediately, people who were never connected to poetry or knew about him learned about him," Chen said. "There is a different kind of vibe and energy to his work."
Yu was jailed for eight years for advocating for a “Chinese Renaissance Movement” in response to government crackdown on the arts, and many mainstream Chinese journals have declined to publish his work. But Yu's poetry is more human-centered, not blatantly political, Chen said: "The political side is very hidden, unless you really want to break it apart and impose meaning on it.”
That doesn't mean it's not complex. "After he came out [of prison], he did make some sort of declaration that he would no longer participate in any political organizations, but he will continue poetry and art, as he believes it’s a higher pursuit,” Chen said.
If you're not feeling like a poetry reading, there's quite an assortment of other things to do in the area over the coming week, from cocktails to politics and ghosts to graffiti. For more event listings from around San Francisco, visit hoodline.com/events. You can also submit an event to be featured in an upcoming roundup.
