Events

Our reading of all eighteen poems in the Time Shadows: City Life project presented all poems in their native language and English translation. We hosted local poets Grace Cavalieri, Kim Roberts, and Davi Walders, and German poet Ingrid Schulz, in person. A number of the German poets participated via telephone.

Lane Jennings, project consultant, moderated the event. Guiling Hu (University of Maryland) and Leina Lu (George Mason University) read the Chinese poems. Irmgard Wagner (George Mason University) and Guiling Hu led the closing discussion.

Welcome from the Goethe-Institut and the Chinatown Community Cultural Center  
Words from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library  
Introduction by Lane Jennings, moderator  

Observations
City Life by Wang Qian  
Unfamiliar City by Silvia Wendt  
Seventh Street by Jean Toomer  

Traditions
On a Lofty Peak by Feng Zhi  
The Magic of Cities by Claudia Siemon  
The City by Grace Cavalieri  

Beginnings
Let Spring Take Off by Yu Kwang-chung  
In Transit by Matthias Kneip  
Corner of Hester and Mulberry by Davi Walders  

Transitions
Night in Taipei by Ji Xian  
migrants exchange market by Martina Sens  
Emigre by W.S. Merwin

Returnings
Black Map by Bei Dao
Arrival by Ingrid Schulz
New Fashioned Song by Traci O'Dea

Endings
Taipei 101 by Luo Qiaowei
Blackout by Vanja Simeonova
Swamp by Kim Roberts

Discussion with Irmgard Wagner and Guiling Hu

Listen to the entire event

Additional Reading:
Monday, June 29, 6:30 – 8:30 pm in the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library auditorium

About this Collaboration
In 2008, the Time Shadows project was established, and showcased traditional German, Chinese and American poetry on posters throughout Chinatown. For 2009, we transitioned to a focus on modern-day cities, with the theme City Life. Our goal was to find common elements of life in a modern metropolis that might bring a smile of recognition to city dwellers in Peking, Taipei, Berlin, Washington DC - or in any urban area.

Take a walk through Chinatown to discover the changing monthly display. Read the poems online, take part in our neighborhood scavenger hunt, and learn about our neighborhood at www.timeshadows.org.

In cooperation with the Chinatown Community Cultural Center and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library.  

This project is funded in part by a grant from the Humanities Council of Washington, DC. Additional funding comes from TECRO, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, and the Ambassador of Taiwan.