ACIAC 2018 Duanwu Poetry Panel

Often translated as the Dragon Boat Festival, Duanwu is the only festival in China that commemorates the death of a poet called Qu Yuan (340-278 BC). The author of “Li Sao” (Lament), Qu Yuan is remembered in Chinese culture as a great patriot and more importantly as the Father of Chinese poetry. In the last 2300 years after him, the sound of his poetry has been an abiding influence, and much of what he wrote remains a part of contemporary Chinese idiom. To mark this occasion this year, ACIAC is inviting two Australian writers, Isabelle Li, a Chinese Australian writer and translator, and Mark Tredinnick, a celebrated poet, essayist, and writing teacher, to do a poetry panel to have a conversation on the nature of poetry writing and poetry translation.