Taiwanese poet Ye Mimi (葉覓覓) held a bilingual poetry reading alongside translator Steve Bradbury at the University of Oklahoma on March 2 as part of the 2017 Newman Festival.
Ye started to write poetry at the age of 19, noting that poetry brings a sense of tranquility and serenity for the tired soul. She began experimenting with poetry films in 2005, blending text with cultural innuendos and video footage. Thanks to inspiration from Franz Kafka, her style borders on surrealism.
For the Newman Festival, she recited three poems from her collection "His Days Go by the Way Her Years: Poems by Ye Mimi (他度日她的如年),” which Bradbury followed with the English renditions.
The recitals were accompanied by screenings of two poetry videos - "They Are There But I Am Not (他們在那裡而我不在),” her graduate thesis that captured moments in time from Taiwan and Chicago, and "Hail the Bodhisattva of Collected Junk (南無撿破爛菩薩),” a social satire and celebration of local Taiwan culture.
The artist also talked about her decade-long creative journey as a poet, explaining that she sees herself as transforming the energy of the universe into human words and imagery. Many of her poems, including the newly released "A Moth Laid Its Eggs in My Armpit, and Then It Died (蛾在腋下產卵，然後死去),” come to her in the form of dreams.
The poetry reading was attended by the likes of Professor Crag A. Hill of University of Oklahoma and Professor Andrea Lingenfelter of University of San Francisco.
Ye Mimi (left) and Steve Bradbury (right).