Poetry and Cam Rivers

Cam Rivers Publishing has had a long-standing interest in poetry-related projects. Alan Macfarlane and Zilan Wang, the founders of Cam Rivers Publishing, are also the founders the Cambridge Xu Zhimo Poetry and Arts Festival.

In 2014, they curated the the Xu Zhimo and Cambridge Exhibition in the Chapel of King’s College. During the summer of 2014, the exhibition was seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world, receiving widespread acclaim and attention.

2015 saw the first rendition of the Cambridge Xu Zhimo Poetry and Arts Festival, with each summer following it welcoming more and more attendees. The festival was hosted virtually during the pandemic. Contemporary poets, artists and scholars from around the world gathered on the banks of the river Cam, which had been a central theme in Xu Zhimo’s renowned poem, Second Farewell to Cambridge. The attendees engage in poetry recitations, academic seminars, concerts and thematic art exhibitions. After eight years of evolution, the festival has become one of the most influential poetry and arts events in the United Kingdom. It provides a platform for contemporary poets, artists and scholars from around the world to exchange ideas and collaborate, allowing them to get a deeper understand of each others’ cultures and histories.

As of 2023, hundreds of authors, artists, scholars and activists from various international backgrounds have taken part in the festival. The event welcomed attendees from Italy, Spain, Greece, Serbia, Iran, China, United States and the United Kingdom as well as other countries. Some poets have been subsequently published by Cam Rivers Publishing.

Cam Rivers Poetry Club, the poetry translation and editing team of Cam Rivers Publishing, has translated over 200 poems from contemporary Chinese poets. The team includes British poet and literary editor Peter Hughes as well as Lucy Hamilton, and other poets, translators and scholars from institutions of the United Kingdom and China. Other members of the Poetry Club are volunteers from various ages (15-80), contributing extensively. We are very grateful for their enthusiasm and support, as well as their expertise.