The Song-dynasty writer Li Qingzhao (1084–1151) is considered the greatest woman poet in Chinese history. During her lifetime, she defied cultural expectations for women by writing and persevering through war, exile, imprisonment, and the loss of her fortune.
Join Nevada Humanities on Tuesday, May 13, from 2:00 to 3:00 pm at Summerlin Library in Las Vegas, for poetry readings and an origami workshop to learn more about the life of Li Qingzhao. Tanslator and UNLV professor Wendy Chen will read a selection of Li Qingzhao's poems from the newly-released collection The Magpie at Night (FSG, 2025) and speak about the poet's incredible life, her poems, and the translation process. Participants will hear about the importance of the natural world in classical Chinese poetry, while learning to fold origami inspired by the birds, flowers, and landscapes in Li Qingzhao's poetry. This event is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis and may be limited. For more information, call 702-507-3863.
Wendy Chen is the author of the novel Their Divine Fires (Algonquin) and the poetry collection Unearthings (Tavern Books). Her poetry translations of Song-dynasty woman writer Li Qingzhao are published in The Magpie at Night from Farrar, Straus & Giroux. She is the editor of Figure 1, associate editor-in-chief of Tupelo Quarterly, and prose editor of Tupelo Press. She earned her MFA in poetry from Syracuse University and her PhD in English from the University of Denver. She is an assistant professor of creative writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.