This collcetion of poems eloquently captures the contradictions and multiple identities of modern China. Liz Niven has a keen eye for detail and a light touch that delivers an unexpected intensity. Taking on ancient traditions and contemporary issues, this selection is in turn humorous and poignant and illustrates China as it is rarely seen. From the intimacy of the tea ceremony to the lives of the migrant workers in Beijing, nothing is as you would expect.
These are not travel poems; they are 'Chinese' poems with a very strong Scottish accent - humorous, sympathetic, elightening and involved. They demonstrate how valuable the reflective nature of poetry can be in engaging with another culture. - TOM POW
I loved Bei Dao in Scots! These early poems seem to work especially well. - ELIOT WEINBERGER
Her poetry combines the lilting notes of Scottish bagpipes with the earthy regional cadence of the language. - CHINA DAILY
A fine poet with an excellent ear for the Scots language. - RON BUTLIN
There is fine writing in The Shard Box, crafted with vision, warmth and shafts of devastating insight. - JANET PAISLEY
A former teacher, Liz Nivenhas been Writer-in-Residence for DGAA, Scots Language Development Officer for Dumfries & Galloway Education Dept. and is now Cultural Co-ordinator for Creative Writing in D&G's schools. Her poetry and language related writings are widely published (UK, USA, Canada, Netherlands, Slovakia, Czech Republic) and has been broadcast on BBC Scotland, Radio 4, BBC Northern Ireland and ITV. Her award-winning poetry includes collaborations with sculptors for wood and stone installations on the River Cree in Galloway and commissioned poetry for Highlands & Islands Airports Ltd's Gateway Arts Project. The latter commission wasthe subject of a television documentary entitled 'Poet on a Plane'. She has been awarded two Scottish Arts Council Writers' Bursaries in 1996 and in 2003, and was awarded joint first prize in the Herald/McCash Poetry competition in the same year.