Han Dong mainly writes poems and novels, he is a representative of the New Generation Novelists. To date, he has published around fifty works including collections of poems, novels, novellas, and essays.

His first novel Banished! was long-listed for Man Asian Literary Prize 2008. Some of his selected poems have been translated and published in Capriccio on the Way to Buy Salt, and anthologised in The Qilin’s Gaze: Poems by 12 Contemporary Nanjing Poets. His novels include Metamorphosis of an Educated Youth, Me and You, and My Plato. His poetry collections in Chinese include Dad’s Looking Down on Me from The Sky, Miracle, and Sorrow or Eternal Life. He is a winner of the Lu Xun Literary Award, Golden Phoenix Medal, and Chinese Media Literary Award for Long Fiction.

如此风吹

鹰在窗外盘旋，
蝙蝠飞进家里。
野蜂在房檐下聚集，
准备筑巢。我们在卫生间的水泥地上
发现了一只油黑的蟋蟀。
一只碧绿的大螳螂被卡在窗玻璃和纱窗之间。
小皮蛋冲看不见的存在吠叫了一晚，这还没完，
在我工作室的台阶上遇见的那只小鸟、
江边公路上那只横穿而过的野兔（飞影）……
所有的这些奇遇都发生在半年以内。

生态变好，也许是心里已绿意成荫。
当我远离农贸市场屠宰的血污，
那些活着的、野生的、无形的
便纷至沓来。

Abundance

Eagles circle outside the window,
Bats fly into the house.
Wild bees gather under the eaves,
Building their nests. On the concrete floor of our toilet
We find a shiny black cricket.
A jade green mantis is stuck between window glass and screen.
Pickles barks at its unseen presence all evening; it doesn’t end there,
There’s the little bird I meet on my workshop doorstep, and
The hare that runs across the riverside road (a fleeting shadow) …
All these encounters happen within six months.

The environment is better, maybe because greenness has grown within my thoughts.
When I steer clear of the bloody butchery of the farmers’ market,
That which is living, wild, and without shape
Comes in abundance.

Translations by Nicky Harman.