Translated by Jeffrey Yang

“Prologue” is from Bei Dao’s book-length poem Sidetracks, originally published in Hong Kong in 2022. Thirty-three poems follow the “Prologue” that examine and reimagine the poet’s life in exile during the years following the June Fourth Movement in 1989 up to the present day. As Bei Dao writes in the afterword to the book, “I remember twenty years ago walking with Li Tuo at the Berkeley Pier. The morning mist was thick that day and a fog bell rang out. I said, ‘Fog bell, that’s a nice word—could be borrowed for a poem.’ Li Tuo nodded and replied, ‘You should write a long poem, something with a sense of history.’”

Two-color letterpress broadside, printed on old stock Magnani paper. Chinese text printed from a plate. English translation hand set in Dante types. 12 x 17.25 inches. Ships flat, USPS Priority mail.

$40