A Tower Built Downwards

“Yang Lian’s A Tower Built Downwards, impeccably transported from the Chinese by his long time translator Brian Holten, offers us a clear lens on the lived reality of a haunted world of exile and displacement. Steeped in classical Chinese poetry, with a spirited understanding of historical forces, Yang offers us elegy as a sublime art in a fallen world. An experimentalist, his adventures in his mother tongue are reflected in Brian Holten’s exciting use of English syntax and pronunciation to create a similar impact.” Read more...

Notable Poetry Books of 2024: The Inaugural PEN Heaney Prize Shortlist

Paula Meehan, Poet