The jury committee of the first Ai Qing Poetry Award announced on September 30 that 259 participating works, including poetry collections, have passed the preliminary review. Media such as the Journal of Literature and Art (Wenyi Bao in pinyin), the websites of Guangming (gmw.cn), China Writers (chinawriter.com), and China News (chinanews.com.cn), the official WeChat account of the Chinese Poetry Society, and news apps Jinhua News and Jindong Mobile News reposted the announcement.

Poet Ai Qing (1910-1996) is an outstanding representative of modern Chinese poetry in the 20th century. Ai Qing, Pablo Neruda of Chile, and Nazim Hikmet of Turkey were dubbed “the three great people’s poets of the 20th century.” In May 2020, the Chinese Poetry Society named May “the month of Chinese Poet Ai Qing.” In March 2021, Poet Jidi Majia proposed to the China Poetry Society and the Publicity Department of the Jinhua Municipal Party Committee to make the Ai Qing Poetry Award an important award for Chinese poetry. Many parties supported this proposal, including Ai Qing’s widow Gao Ying.

Poetry speaks about the spirit of the times. In May 2021, the Chinese Poetry Society and the People’s Government of Jindong District jointly initiated the Ai Qing Poetry Award, and simultaneously released the call for submissions. The award aims to cultivate poetry lovers with dreams and passion, further promote Ai Qing’s poetry, and expand the influence of Chinese poetry. The Ai Qing Poetry Award is the only award of the Chinese Poetry Society and will be held every two years.

The award solicited contributions from at home and abroad from May 25 to December 31, 2021. A total of 281 works were received, and 259 of them have passed the preliminary review. Among the participants, the works of young poets accounted for more than 30%, reflecting the vigorous vitality of Chinese poetry. After the publicity of the works participating in the selection of the first Ai Qing Poetry Award, the preliminary review and re-review will be carried out, followed by the announcement of the results and the award presentation ceremony. (Source: Jindong News, translated by Jin Haiqiong, edited by Kendra Fiddler)