We are pleased to present a unique event on Thursday, September 8. Local poet Huichun Liang will be reading from her collection of poetry, autumn, presencing. Here’s what Missouri’s first Poet Laureate and Friend of Skylark, Walter Bargen, had to say about these beautiful poems: “Writing in the 1,000 year-old tradition of the Tang Dynasty poets, Han Shan and Du Fu, Huichun Liang has brought into sharp focus the power of the unfathomable stillness of the present moment in her book autumn, presencing. Her poems ring with the clarity of the master's bronze bell calling monks to meditation. Yet these poems breathe in the world across time and cultures, as in "Translation," where a Grimm Fairy Tale, a Biblical image, a mythical Greek personae, and the Buddhist lotus flower mix. And in the mix is the collaboration with the artist Steven Schroeder whose paintings make a frequent appearance in autumn, presencing and are a perfect match for the poems, as if dropping a stone into the quiet pond of the reader who can then follow the water's ripples outward and then return to the center where "still, a story is being told."“

Huichun (Amy) Liang is an assistant teaching professor in Chinese language and literature at the University of Missouri. She is the author of autumn, presencing, co-author (with Zhanjing) of Chinese Idioms and co-translator (with Steven Schroeder) of Small (poetry by Li Nan). Her translation appears in voice & verse, Sichuan Literature, and Rhino; and her writing has appeared in a variety of media in the US, Hong Kong and China.