Books

Top-selling poetry in 2006

JDM070102porcupines.jpg
Cover of Li Yawei's Porcupine Poems.
Top-selling poetry in 2006

From Kafka Books, an online store specializing in poetry, here are last year's top sellers in the categories of Chinese-language poetry, translated poetry, and criticism.

I. Top 15 Chinese-language individual poetry collections

  1. Bei Dao, Poems by Bei Dao (北岛:《北岛的诗》)
  2. Li Yawei, Porcupine Poems (李亚伟:《豪猪的诗篇》)
  3. Wang Xiaoni, Half of Me is Aching (王小妮:《半个我正在疼痛》)
  4. Zhai Yongming, Finally Depleted Me (翟永明:《终于使我周转不灵》)
  5. Yang Jian, Dusk (杨键:《暮晚》)
  6. Yi Sha, My Hero (伊沙:《我的英雄》)
  7. Duo Duo, Selected Poems (多多:《多多诗选》)
  8. Xiao Kaiyu, Poems by Xiao Kaiyu (肖开愚:《肖开愚的诗》)
  9. Xi Chuan, Poems by Xichuan (西川:《西川的诗》)
  10. Wang Yin, Selected Poems (王寅:《王寅诗选》)
  11. Yu Jian, Poems by Yu Jian (于坚:《于坚的诗》)
  12. Bai Hua, Wangshi (Past things) (柏桦:《往事》)
  13. Sun Lei, Performance (孙磊:《演奏》)
  14. Lan Lan, Sleep, Sleep (蓝蓝:《睡梦,睡梦》)
  15. Zhu Zhu, The Trunk (朱朱:《皮箱》)

Information and translations for most of the unlinked (as well as for many of those that are) can be found in PDF form via Michael Martin Day's anthology on the Digital Archive for Chinese Studies. There seems to be no information in English on Zhu Zhu or Sun Lei (aside from a single mention by Zhao Lihua) - any suggestions?

II. Top 10 collections of translated poetry

  1. Paul Celan, Selected Poetry and Prose (策兰:《保罗・策兰诗文选》)
  2. Rainer Maria Rilke, Selected Poems (里尔克:《里尔克诗选》)
  3. Dylan Thomas, Selected Poems (狄兰・托马斯:《狄兰・托马斯诗选》)
  4. Jorge Luis Borges, Selected Poems (博尔赫斯:《博尔赫斯诗选》)
  5. Emily Dickinson, Selected Poems (狄金森:《狄金森诗选》)
  6. Allen Ginsberg, Selected Poems (金斯伯格:《金斯伯格诗选》)
  7. Friedrich Hölderlin, Poems (荷尔德林:《塔楼之诗》)
  8. Constantine P. Cavafy, Collected Poems (卡瓦菲斯:《卡瓦菲斯诗集》)
  9. Federico Garcia Lorca, Selected Poetry (洛尔迦:《洛尔迦诗歌精选》
  10. The Eddas, (佚名:《埃达(冰岛史诗)》)

III. Top 10 general titles in poetry

  1. Friedrich Hölderlin, Collected Prose (荷尔德林:《荷尔德林文集》)
  2. Martin Heidegger, Elucidations of Holderlin's Poetry (海德格尔:《荷尔德林诗的阐释》)
  3. Wang Zuoliang, History of English Poetry (王佐良:《英国诗史》)
  4. Susan Sontag, Against Interpretation (桑塔格:《反对阐释》)
  5. Wei Tianwu, The Contradiction and Evolution of Chinese New Poetry in the Pursuit of Modernity (魏天无:《新诗现代性追求的矛盾与演进》)
  6. Xi Du, Documentary Contemporary Chinese Poetry (西渡等:《先锋诗歌档案(含CD光盘一张)》)
  7. Yang Naiqiao, Comparative Poetics between East and West - Opposition and Confluence (杨乃乔:《东西方比较诗学——悖立与整合》)
  8. Wang Zhuo, Contemporary American Poetry in a Postmodernist Perspective (王卓:《后现代主义视野中的美国当代诗歌》)
  9. Stephen Owen, Mi-lou: Poetry and the Labyrinth of Desire (宇文所安:《迷楼:诗与欲望的迷宫》)
  10. Marc Froment-Meurice, That Is to Say: Heidegger's Poetics (马克•费罗芒:《海德格尔诗学》

Note: Since these rankings come from a single store, they should not be considered representative of the entire Chinese poetry market.

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