TRAFFIC LIGHT: Allen's first poetry book just released

around 6:30 pm today, we released Allen's first poetry collection, 50 pages, titled TRAFFIC LIGHT, via lulu.com, only 6 dollars per copy, readily available at http://www.lulu.com/shop/allen-qing-yuan/traffic-light/paperback/product-21138162.html.

this is the very first publishing project in hard copy undertaken by Poetry Pacific as a press. in the future, we will place open calls for manuscripts, and try to publish more, better, and more frequently...

today is also the first day of paid work Allen has even done since he was born.

but today is also a nightmarish day for the poetry author as a man in real life: here in vancouver, as in any other part of north america, the western hemisphere, or the entire world, today's human society is becoming more and more like a true snakeland, a place where we can get bitten by deadly poisonous snakes anytime, anywhere, despite of the sunshine, blue sky, green trees, flowers, even smiles...

a day to remember, to think, to write

LANDSCAPING Just Released from Flutter Press

my second poetry collection titled Landscaping was released from Flutter Press on 17 july 2013. here are the links to the press, as well as to lulu.com [39 pgs, 25 poems, $7.50]::
1. flutter press: http://flutterpress2009.blogspot.ca/search/label/Changming%20Yuan;
2. lulu.com:http://www.lulu.com/shop/changming-yuan/landscaping/paperback/product-21118231.html     

 There is lush beauty and fierce restraint in the poetry of Changming Yuan. He has a finely-honed sense of nuance, a sensibility that embraces both nature and  mankind. The musicality of his words draws us in, its intimacy lingers in our hearts. “Close your eyes,” he writes in Landscaping, “Stay still/ And you can feel/ The moon’s silver needles/ Softly pointed/ Penetrating tranquility. . . .”

--Susan Terris, Author of Ghost of Yesterday: New & Selected Poems and Editor of Spillway & In Posse Review

I found Changming Yuan's collection of short poems to be inspiring even through the darkness found everywhere in nature; there is also a soft, uplifting tone to his words that resonated throughout the read.

--Sandy Benitez, Editor of Poppy Road Review and Flutter Press


"On a cloudless day. The tone of soft rain on hot asphalt. Landscaping is another world within this one. A beautiful book."
--DeWitt Brinson Asst. Editor The Exquisite Corpse, PANK

unfortunately, my books never sell well, but at least i have finally had this first chapbook out. submitted on 11 may 2013 and accepted on 13 may, this collection contains actually most of my 'best' nature/landscape poems.

i have written and published enough reasonably good poems for at least another 10 collections, from more traditional (personal /philosophical/cultural /sociopolitical) to highly experimental (ideographic /logographic /lexcal), but i do not know when, where or how i can get them published. for me, it seems easy to publish individual poems, but almost impossible to publish my poetic work in the print book form.

in particular, canada has refused to support or even encourage me in this respect - that's why i have refused to be identified as a 'canadian poet'; rather, i am a self-exiled international poetry scribbler.

9 interview questions for poetry editors

today, i hit upon the idea of asking 9 fundamental questions of every poetry editor i can find, who is welcome to answer only one or all the nine questions in anyway s/he prefers to. instead of raising questions for its chatroom only, i will introduce this section to my magazine Poetry Pacific (2.2), to be released on august 5. hopefully we can get some interesting responses. ( i have come up with another organization idea, but i want to see how this interview idea goes first.)

pasted below are the questions i have just finished preparing - '9' being the maximum number that implies 'enduring' or longevity' in traditional chinese culture::

9 FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS FOR POETRY EDITORS

1. Given the ways contemporary authors have been trying to compose all kinds of poetry, how would you define ‘poetry’?

2. Many people say poetry is dying. Do you agree or disagree with this statement, and why?

3. What defining features do you think ‘best’ poetry should possess? In other words, what is your personal or working definition of ‘best’ poetry?

4. What are the most important makings of a ‘great’ poet? – please name 3 greatest poets the world has produced thus far.

5. Who are the 3 most important or noteworthy contemporary poets according to your personal/working criteria.

6. Considering the contemporary poetry writing/publishing reality, what are the most important changes that you think should be made to promote poetry as a worthy cause?

7. Which 3 poetry editors or magazines would you like to recommend to all poetry lovers? Or, which 3 are your most favorite poetry editors/journals?

8. What are the most important or interesting things that you have you learned about poetry writing/publishing as a poetry editor?

9.  What is the most or least enjoyable part of being a poetry editor?

Traffic Light - First Poetry Collection by Allen Qing Yuan

on my way to send out an important mail to cra yesterday morning, i decided to upgrade Poetry Pacific into a real publishing house sooner than originally planned.  as soon as i got home, i registered with lulu.com, and began to learn how to publish paperback books via lulu.

at the same time, i decided to publish Allen Qing Yuan's short collection, tentatively titled TRAFFIC LIGHT, as our very first paperback book. once i become familiar with all the production procedures, i will place an open call for poetry manuscripts, and then other materials...

now i have finally plunged into print publishing on my own, something i have always been wanting to do since 1990 when i began to publish/edit Saskatchewan Chinese News in saskatoon. -c