#ReadingTheMap
In Spring of 2021, Arion Press collaborated with San Francisco poet, Chun Yu, to issue the limited edition broadside “The Map”. It is published bilingually, in both English and Chinese, a first for the legendary letterpress and foundry. Arion dedicates this publication to the Graduating Class of 2021, their families, and their teachers. Available for purchase here.
This poem has touched many hearts and moved a number of them to record themselves reading “The Map”. Below are voices from around the globe #ReadingTheMap. Should you feel moved to record yourself reading “The Map” –whether it be in English, Chinese, or another language– please email it to us or post on social media with #ReadingTheMap.
Recordings from around the globe
1. Chun Yu 俞淳, PhD – San Francisco, US
Chun is a bilingual poet, graphic novelist, scientist, and translator. She is the author of the multi-award-winning memoir in free verse “Little Green: Growing Up During the Chinese Cultural Revolution” (Simon & Schuster) and a historical graphic novel in progress (Macmillan). She is a recipient of San Francisco Arts Commission grants for her poetry and graphic novel projects and an honoree of the 2020 YBCA 100 award for creative change-makers and community leaders, and more. Her work is taught in history and culture classes around the world. Chun holds a B.S. and M.S. from Peking University 北京大學 and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University in biomaterials. She was a post-doctoral fellow in a Harvard-MIT joint program.
“I’ve traveled far from my parents since I was eighteen: to go to college in Beijing and to come to America to continue my study in chemistry and biomaterials. I stayed in the US to live and work. For many years, they endured endless worry about my whereabouts and doings, in places often beyond their imaginations. Whenever I visited them in China, my father would examine a map, and show my mother exactly where I would be traveling to next, from meeting friends one subway-stop away, to whatever distant part of the world I might visit. The image of them, hovering over the map, never left my mind. I wrote ‘The Map’ 《地圖》in 2017 for my mother and father. It’s written for all parents and children in the world.”
2. Baird Brightman – Ventura, CA, USA
“No one is an island. We are all sustained by the vital attachments we form throughout our lives. Chun Yu's poem ‘The Map’ perfectly illuminates how the attachment between child and parent can expand and transform as they both grow and pursue their life's journey. Thank you Chun!”
3. Frances Li 李菲菲 – Sydney, Australia
Frances Li, who graduated from Peking University, is a literary lady from a scholarly family in Beijing. She is a poetry lover, with works published on various media. At present she lives in Sydney.
This is the fourth year since she lost her father. The imagery in “The Map” recalled her memory about the past time when she was deeply bathed with the love of her father. She dedicates her recitation to her beloved father and all audiences.
4. Jie Mi 米杰 – New York, USA
读一遍《地图》，在今天这个没有父亲的父亲节里，让我泪流如河，感谢你用诗句表达了我们所有做儿女的依恋。
“Reading ‘The Map’ makes my tears run down like rivers in this fatherless Father’s Day for me. Thank you for expressing the love and feelings of us who are daughters and sons.”
Jie Mi dedicates this reading to her beloved father.
5. Jianwei Xia 夏建威 – Beijing, China
Jianwei Xia lives in Beijing, a securities trader, who loves collecting classical furniture, and reciting and writing classical Chinese poetry.
“Very moved reading your poem. Your writing expresses the voice in our heart …The best poetry can stir up emotions hidden deep in every soul and inspire kind feelings in every human being. It makes our tears fall.”
读你的诗歌很感动。你写出了我们每个人都有的心声。我们每个人无时无刻不在父母的追寻，惦念和忧虑之中。不管长多大，在父母眼里我们都是孩子。 最早我家里有地图，我来烟台之后父母就老问我，大概在烟台什么位置？离威海那个尖天边有多远？海边的风是不是很大？
能激发我们每个人心灵深处久藏的情感，能激荡每个人善良的情怀的诗歌，就是最好的诗歌。因为那会使我们落泪。
夏建威：居北京，证券操盘手，业余爱好收藏古典家具，和古典诗词的朗诵与写作。
6. Xuemei Jiang 蒋雪梅 – Nanjing, China
“Parents are the haven of a child; the child is the forever heart tug for the parents. Only when we grow older we truly know and understand our parents. I dedicate this recitation to all babas and mamas in the world.”
父母是孩子的一片天，孩子是父母的永远牵挂。当我们也老了的时候，我们才真的认识了父母。谨以此诗朗诵敬呈天下的爸爸妈妈。
7. Min Liu 刘敏 – Nanjing, China
8. Jianqing Peng 彭剑青 – Nanjing, China
9. Xiaoping Ding 丁晓萍 – Shanghai, China
10. Arne JinAn Wong and Dania McManus Wong – Big Island, Hawaii
Dania dedicates this reading to her mother, who is 97 this year. Arne dedicates this reading to his father, who is 105.
11. Rusong Zhao 赵汝松 – Nanjing, China
“Time is like a song, life is like a poem! Poetry is a sublimated life, life is a precipitated poem. At the time when the epidemic is raging, in isolation, I read aloud the poem ‘The Map’ by my friend Chun Yu for you and all friends who have love in their hearts 🌹... Please settle down and listen quietly.”
岁月如歌，人生如诗！诗是升华了的生活，生活是沉淀了的诗。在疫情肆虐的当下，我在隔离中为你、为他（她）及心中有爱的朋友朗读一首好友俞淳的诗歌《地图》🌹……请您沉下心来静静的聆听。
11. Mitch Hall – Oakland, CA
“I’m happy to participate in this celebration of Arion’s publication of Chun’s poem. With thankfulness, I dedicate this recording to my dear friend Chun Yu and to the memory of my mom Ruth, who would have been moved by Chun's poem and who inspired some pathways of my life's map.”
12. Ronald L. Boyer – Santa Rosa, CA
Ronald L. (“R.L.”) Boyer is a depth psychologist and an award-winning poet, short story author, and screenwriter for motion pictures.
“I am honored by the invitation by Chun Yu to read her wonderful poem, “The Map,” as a presenter among others on this site. I have shared this poem with many friends in various arts circles in both America and China—as well as my own family— where it has been received with appreciation by all. One of my Chinese friends shared it with her parents last Mother’s Day. Her mother declared in tears that “The Map” was the most beautiful poem she had ever read. Yet the poem’s appeal is broadly cross-cultural despite its author’s ethnic Chinese ancestry.
“I believe the poem’s universal appeal may be due to its universal subject, interpreted beautifully through Chun’s vision: the subject of human development and natural life cycle, including the reciprocal love, care, and nurturance between children and their parental ancestors as it changes over time.
“For me, the broad appeal and charm of this poem lies in this deeply universal characteristic of the human species, as well as the fine crafting and beautiful expression that is solely due to Chun’s unique, soulful artistic vision, voice, and talent.”
13. Sean O’Neill – London, England, UK
Sean is a Voice Actor, Horticulturist and DJ. He lives in London.
“Chun's poem is a wonderful evocation of her relationship with her parents and like all great writing, although it is drawn from personal experience, it has such a universal appeal. The themes of love and care that begin with her parents and are then returned to them by Chun are so beautiful and powerful. Thank you Chun!”
Celebrate “The Map” on 6.27.21
Get to know Arion Press and Chun Yu, live at the Arion Press "The Map 地圖" Publication Party with Two Languages/One Community on Sunday, June 27, 2021, 3pm PDT. This event will be held in person and streaming via Zoom. Register by June 26 for the Zoom link.