Poetry on the Road Maastricht

(pseudonym of Li Shizeng, Beying, 1951) is one of the most outstanding Chinese poets to emerge after the Cultural Revolution. Like many of his contemporaries he couldn't finish his secondary level education; in 1969 he was forced to become a farmhand. In 1975 he returned to Beying, remained unemployed for some years, then got a job as library assistant and ended up a journalist for the Farmers' Journal in 1980.

Duoduo wrote his first poems in 1972, his first proze in 1975. His poetry and short stories got published in periodicals and anthologies from 1982 on. In 1989 two collections of poems appeared - one of them in the grey, semi-banned circuit, the other with an official publisher.

Poetry International invited him for its 1989 festival and Duoduo made his first trip abroad. After his performance in Rotterdam it became clear that he couldn't return and ever since he has lived in the West as an exile. He stayed in England and Canada for some time and became Writer-in-Residence at Leiden University's Sinologic Institute at the invitation of the Ludo Pieters Guestwriters' fund. In 1989 he commenced writing columns for the Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad, a number of which were compiled in Bang dat ik verloren raak (Afraid to get lost, 1991).

His translator Maghiel van Crevel wrote about his poetry: `He gives his imagination free reign in an uncompromising, spectacular way, often causing the message in any poem to remain obscure at first reading or hearing. The question is if he does so on purpose. Close reading doesn't help in finally removing the disguise of the actors appearing in his poems, for Duoduo creates another world in his poems - a world which he keeps well under control; an unwavering voice sounds in his work which releases forces but at the same time keeps them in check and guides them.' Earlier this year Maghiel van Crevel obtained his doctorate with the thesis Language Shattered. Contemporary Chinese Poetry and Duoduo.

Two collections of Duoduo's poetry as well as short stories were published in Dutch; one of his plays went on stage here. His poetry got translated into various languages.