Unofficial Poetry Journals from China

INSTITUTION

Leiden University

ACCESS

open access

URL

https://digitalcollections.universiteitleiden.nl/unpo

DESCRIPTION

Unofficial Poetry Journals from China (UNPO collection) is an internationally unique collection of underground poetry publications from the People's Republic of China, held and digitized by Leiden University Libraries. Built by professor Maghiel van Crevel during regular fieldwork trips since 1991, the collection contains early specimens from the late 1970s through the early 21st century. Materials range from the legendary Today (今天) to Them (他们), Wings (翼), and The Lower Body (下半身), among others. The digitization project provides free open access to thousands of pages of unofficial poetry, literary criticism, and polemics. These materials, comparable to Soviet-Russian samizdat publications, are hugely influential but difficult to access, being published privately outside China's official literary infrastructure. The collection shows how unofficial poetry accommodates marginalized groups including avant-garde poets, precarious workers, and members of the queer community.

SOURCE LIST

ACLS Open Database Resource Guide

LAST MODIFIED

2026-01-16