Cambria Press Publication Review: The Borderlands of Asia
Congratulations to Professor Mark Bender on the outstanding review of his book, The Borderlands of Asia: Culture, Place, Poetry, in China Review International, which notes:
With poems from established and upcoming authors and a thematic focus on poetic expressions of place and ‘place-competence,’ the collection includes voices from northeast India, Myanmar, Mongolia, and some of the borderland regions of China: the southwestern provinces, Qinghai, Gansu, and Inner Mongolia. Bender’s detailed Introduction provides historical background on the political situation and the situation of poetry in each of the regions from which poems are included. … If anything unites borderlands within Asia, it may be these themes of rootedness interacting with environmental and political-economic precarity. These incisive poems bring the concerns of these poets and their regions to us with clarity and feeling. … This volume will be appreciated by scholars of border regions within Asia, indigenous and minzu studies, translation, and all who appreciate taking a closer look at the senses of place conveyed in these poems. It may be especially valuable for those wishing to bring a contemporary humanities perspective to courses on inter-Asian connections. And, perhaps most importantly, these translations bring the poets’ unique voices and collective concerns to a wider readership, drawing our attention to the timely relevance of their perspectives on our changing world.
Mark Bender is a professor of Chinese literature and folklore at The Ohio State University.
This book is in the Cambria Sinophone World Series headed by Victor H. Mair (University of Pennsylvania).