MY NAME WILL GROW WIDE LIKE A TREE

As an unmarried woman in her 30s in 1985, Lei Yi asked for a pregnancy test; to her surprise and anger, she was shamed and scolded by her gynecologist. Yi then wrote “A Single Woman's Bedroom,” a poem in 14 sections exploring feminist identity and personal freedom, which made her one of the most important contemporary poets in China. This collection presents Yi's signature work and 27 other poems in translation alongside the Chinese original. The translations by Changtai Bi and the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Tracy K. Smith capture Yi's rebellious spirit and elegant style.