She shows the pros of prose

Zhang Yali, an editor at the Beijing-based Writers' Publishing House, recalls how she joined her fellow students in a long line, in front of a truck, to obtain a copy of Hsi Mu-jung's first poetry anthology, Common Jasmine Orange.

It was in the mid-1980s, and Zhang was a Chinese major at a Beijing university. "It was a very thin book with a light purple cover," she recalls.

Hsi's poetry anthology was first published in Taiwan in 1981. It became an instant success and was reprinted seven times that year. In the late 1980s and early '90s, her poems were circulated on the mainland and became hugely popular.

It is said that during that period young men and women were either reciting English or reading Hsi Mu-jung, who mostly writes about life, love and nostalgia. Several of her pieces have been selected for secondary school textbooks.

Zhang says Hsi's poems impress her most because of their richness and deceptive simplicity.

Her publishing house published all six collections of Hsi's poems in 2009, which have been reprinted seven times to date.

"Although it's not the age for poetry anymore," Zhang says, "I believe poetry is still needed for the beauty and warmth it can provide."

China Daily

(China Daily 11/11/2011 page19)