Sidetracks

Bei Dao, pen name of Zhao Zhenkai, was born in Beijing in 1949. Forced into exile after the Tiananmen Massacre, he lived in Europe and the US until 2007, then settling in Hong Kong until, only recently, moving back to Beijing. Bei Dao is the author of seven books of poetry, a short-story collection, two essay collections, and an autobiography. His awards and honors include the Aragana Poetry Prize from the International Festival of Poetry in Casablanca and the Tuchosky Prize from Swedish PEN.;Jeffrey Yang is the author of four books of poetry and translator of Bei Daos autobiography City Gate, Open Up and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobos June Fourth Elegies. He works as the Editor-At-Large for New Directions Publishing, and also edits titles for New York Review Books.