The changing room

The author of six volumes of poetry, Yongming Zhai first became prominent in the mid-1980s with the publication of her twenty-poem cycle, Woman, a work that forcefully articulated a female point-of-view in China's largely patriarchal society. Her powerful imagery and forthright voice resonated with many readers. Zhai has continued to hone her critique of traditional attitudes toward women, quickly becoming one of China's foremost feminist voices and a major force in the contemporary literary scene. She is also an installation artist and prolific essayist, and stages poetry readings and other cultural events at the bar she owns in her native Chengdu.