Yang Lian was one of the original Misty Poets who reacted against the strictures of the Cultural Revolution. His work was criticised in China in 1983 and formally banned in 1989 when he organised memorial services for the dead of Tiananmen Square while in New Zealand.

A poet in exile, he now lives in Berlin. Translations of his poetry include Where the Sea Stands Still, Lee Valley Poems and The Narrative Poem, as well as his long poem, Yi. He is co-editor of Jade Ladder: Contemporary Chinese Poetry and was awarded the International Nonino Prize in 2012.