by Neil W. McCabe

The Zora Neale Hurston Literary Center at Simmons College in Boston Oct. 8-10 will host the Simmons College International Chinese Poetry Conference.

“The goal of the conference is to bring together a group of the most active and vocal Chinese poets, critics, and scholars for three days to showcase their work and to present various perspectives on relevant topics including anxiety over issues of modernity which contextualized the birth of modernism and are of lingering concerns for Chinese poets,” said Afaa M. Weaver, the conference’s director.

“As the community of poets writing in Chinese is much larger than those writing in English, our plans for the conference include a structuring allowing for translators and ample space for the presentation of poetry and papers in Chinese and English,” he said.

The conference is being co-sponsored by the Cultural Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Boston and the Chinese Culture Connection, Weaver said.

Many prominent poets and scholars will appear, including Zheng Chouyu, Yu Kwang-chung, Wang Ping, Marilyn Chin, Michelle Yeh, Frank Stewart, N.G.D. Malmqvist, Yu Hsi, Xue Di, Perng Ching-hsi, Meng Lang, Yu Jian, and Shinyu Pai, he said.

Weaver said in her book “Frontier Taiwan,” Dr. Michelle Yeh wrote: “To this day, Chinese people still take pride in their glorious heritage of classical poetry and refer to China as a nation of poets.

“Here at Simmons College, there is interest in making the college a center for modern Chinese poetry. The College is currently finalizing construction plans to upgrade or renovate virtually every building and classroom on the academic and residence campuses,” he said.

The remodeling will provide library staff with expanded space, and the archives department will expand and be relocated into the completed building and would be able to hold letters and personal matters of Chinese poets,” he said.

“One possible outcome of this international conference, we hope will be a greater awareness of traditional and modern Chinese poetry to the American audience and provide an opportunity to build community around Chinese poetry,” he said.

There is a registration fee of $65 for the general public and $35 for students. More information is available at 617 521-2175, or the Web site: www.chinesepoetryconference.com.