Fan Yusu from the cover of the inaugural issue of New Workers’ Literature
Fan Yusu is a migrant worker from central China. She went to Beijing to work as a live-in nanny (baomu) and late…
SPECIAL SECTION
Chinese Migrant Workers’ Literature
Since the economic reform launched in 1978, China has witnessed a vast group of rural women leaving their families behind in the countryside to enter urban middle-class homes as domestic workers.…
“Chinese Factory” by danielfoster437 is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Chinese Workers I am a Chinese worker Our revolutionary comrades are found in every corner of the Earth Perhaps consciousl…
I settle my body and soul down in this small town Its lychee orchards, its streets A little deck in the assembly line The rain wets my head, again and again I rest my ideals, love, dreams, and yo…
China’s “Battlers poetry” is written by members of the new precariat, especially rural-to-urban migrant workers. This is an exciting trend, both in its own right and when viewed as part of a mor…
The entrance to Picun / Photo by Maghiel van Crevel Fu Qiuyun, also known as Xiaofu, is a young migrant worker from Henan, China, and also the organizer of the literature group in Picun (aka the…
A meeting of the Picun Literature Group / Photo by Fu Qiuyun The Picun Literature Group has independently printed eight volumes of Picun literature since 2015 and released four volumes of the bim…
Banner of the New Workers’ slogan in Picun / Photo by Hui Faye Xiao A group of Chinese migrant workers, who call themselves New Workers, have been uttering their voices through the medium of lite…
Spring 2021
World Literature Today’s spring issue, “Redreaming Dreamland,” reflects on the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Also, a special section on Chinese migrant workers’ literature. Essays, poetry, fiction, & interviews + reviews of new books by Najwan Darwish, Cixin Liu, Olga Tokarczuk, and dozens more. Cover art by Greenwood Art Project artist Ebony Iman Dallas.