Aku Wuwu (1964- ) writes poetry in both Yi and Chinese languages. He’s a literary critic, and a professor at Southwest University for Nationalities, Sichuan Province. He has published more than 300 poems in Chinese and international periodicals. His books Stream in Winter (1994) and Tiger’s Traces (1998) are the first collections of poetry ever written in modern Yi. He has published four books of poetry in Chinese, Go beyond the Boundaries of Witches (1995) , The Selected Poetry of Aku Wuwu (2004), The Appeal of Mississippi (2008), The Wizard’s Voice (2010).
Wang Ping: Dr. Ping Wang came from Shanghai, earned her BA in Beijing University, PhD at NYU, published 15 books of poetry and prose: My Name Is Immigrant, Life of Miracles along the Yangtze and Mississippi, among others. She’s recipient of NEA, Bush, Lannan and McKnight Fellowships, director of Kinship of Rivers project. She’s also a dancer, photographer and installation artist. Her multi-media installations were shown at colleges, galleries, museums, river confluences and mountains around the world. She’s the Emerita Professor of Poetry, Macalester College.