Ni Wencai was once honored as one of the “first batch of top 10 rural poets in China”.

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- Ni Wencai, with the pen name Ni Wen, 40 years old this year, is a native of Kaixian County, Chongqing. He left his hometown at the age of 17 or 18 and worked part-time to earn his livelihood. He carried bricks in Hebei Province, and demolished houses in Shanghai. In 1998, he returned home and did maintenance management in a machinery processing plant in Yubei District.

Having practiced his craft for years, Ni’s works were published in such poetry periodicals as Poetry Monthly, Stars (Xingxing in Chinese), and Beijing Literature. In the selection of the first National Top 10 Rural Poets co-sponsored by Poetry Monthly and Stars in 2010, Ni won honor with his suite poem – Tongma (Firmiana simplex in Latin) Garden or Strange Land. He has also been a member of Chongqing Writers Association since 2012.

His first collection of poems – Songs of Niren will be published in the 2013 volume of “21st Century Literature’s Star Series” in December. Ni said, poetry is a spiritual enjoyment, and he has a dream as a poet, that is to record temporary workers’ inner feelings so that they could be known by more people. (Translated by Chen Siyan, Fathom Language Limited)