Global Contexts, the Age of AI, and Creative Writing
Thursday, November 12, 2026 4:30 PM EST
Horizon Hall, 5008
Poet Yang Lian and writer and artist YoYo will present selected works of their own—poetry and fiction—as a point of departure for a discussion of writing, translation, and literary creation in a global age. Drawing on their experience of leaving China and writing across languages and cultures, they will reflect on how their creative stance, especially since the beginning of the twenty-first century, has shifted from a condition of passive exile to that of becoming active others. Centered on independent thought and drawing on resources from China and abroad, past and present, they will explore how literature and translation together respond to a series of contemporary challenges, including global existence, cross-cultural transmission, the spiritual crisis of globalization, and the new pressures posed by AI. The event will conclude with a Q&A session and conversation with the audience on questions of shared interest.
Bio of Yang Lian:
Yang Lian (*1955) is a Chinese poet who lives in London and Berlin. He has published 15 volumes of poetry, including Yi (2002), Where the Sea Stands Still (1999), Concentric Circles (2005), Riding Pisces (2008), Lee Valley Poems (2009), Narrative Poem (2016), Anniversary Snow (2019), and A Tower Built Downwards (2023). His works have been translated into more than 30 languages and have been described by The Scotsman as “like MacDiarmid meets Rilke with Samurai sword drawn!” He has also been called “one of the most representative voices of Chinese literature” and has been regarded as “one of the great world poets of our era.” Among Yang Lian’s many prizes are the LericiPea International Lifetime Achievement Award (Italy) in 2026, the Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award in 2024, the inaugural Sarah Maguire Prize for Poetry in Translation in 2021, the Premio Sulmona (Italy) in 2019, the NordSud International Prize for Literature (Italy) and the Janus Pannonius International Poetry Grand Prize (Hungary) in 2018, the English PEN Award in 2017 (and again in 2024), the Pacific International Poetry Prize (Taiwan) in 2016, the Capri International Poetry Prize in 2014, and the International Nonino Prize in 2012. Yang Lian was invited to become a member of the Norwegian Academy for Literature and Freedom of Expression in 2014. He has been the founder and chief editor of Survivors Poetry Magazine since 1988.
A Literary Bio of YoYo (Youhong Liu)
YoYo is a fiction writer and painter. She has published 10 collections of novelettes and one novel in China, Taiwan, and overseas. Two of her works of fiction have been translated into English: Ghost Tide (Fourth Estate, 2005) and One Man’s Decision to Become a Tree (PalmArtPress, 2023). YoYo has been invited by many literary and arts foundations, including DAAD (Germany), Yaddo (USA), and Schloss Solitude (Germany). As an artist, she has held many exhibitions internationally. She won the special prize for foreign artists at the 46th International Art Exhibition in Italy (2018). Her works have been collected by more than 100 institutions and private collectors worldwide.
See yanglian.net for selected work of both authors.
