The Late Elegy is a collection of Jidi Majia's poetry, writings, and artwork. It contains several of his longform poems produced over the past few years, as well as many of his lectures, speeches, forewords, literary criticism, and interviews and dozens of his hand drawn artworks. The poems comprise both elegy to his late father and paean to his people. They are a dissection of his being, a laying bare of his soul, a meditation on humanity's destiny. In the prose, he explores cultural differences, poetry's significance, and the power of literature. And with his strange line drawings, he channels something essentially Yi-Nuosu, in a conjuring trick that proves him his people's bard.

The poetry, writing, and drawings in this book provide a window into the author's life, his people, his world. Writing about the self need not be limited to the self. Singing of a people need not be limited to the people. Surveying the state of the world need not be limited to the real world. As a widely translated author, Jidi Majia has truly realized the global potential of literature.

About the author

Jidi Majia is a key figure of contemporary Chinese poetry and widely influential in the international poetry scene. His poems have been translated into close to forty languages, with over eighty translated editions of his poetry collections published in more than a dozen countries worldwide. He has received numerous domestic and international awards throughout his career, including prizes in South Africa, United Kingdom, Romania, and Poland, one of which was a Homer European Medal of Poetry and Art.