Poet Profile

Anna Yin

Anna Yin is Mississauga’s Inaugural Poet Laureate and Ontario representative for the League of Canadian Poets. She has authored six books of poetry and her poems appeared on Arc Poetry, New York Times, China Daily, World Journal, Cha etc. She read her poetry on Parliament Hill and has been featured at 2015 Austin International Poetry Festival and other international events. Her “Poetry Alive” workshops [http://www.annapoetry.com/poetry-alive-event-2/] combining computer arts and audience participation are welcomed at schools, colleges and libraries, especially for the Poets in Schools Program [http://www.annapoetry.com/poets-in-schools/]. She currently hosts a new ongoing Haiku/Postcard Poetry project for Mississauga.

Awards and Other Honors: Mississauga Arts Council MARTY Award for Established Literary Arts (2014); First Place, Haiku Contest #4, Wax Poetry and Art Magazine (2014); Finalist, Haiku Challenge, The New York Times (2014); Mississauga Arts Council MARTY Award for Emerging Literary Arts (2010); IBPC International Poetry Contest, First Place (2009); Ted Plantos Memorial Award from The Ontario Poetry Society (2005).

Books Published: Seven Nights with the Chinese Zodiac (Black Moss Press, 2015); Inhaling the Silence (Mosaic Press, 2013: ISBN: 978-0-88962-994-3); Wings Toward Sunlight (Mosaic Press, 2011 ISBN: 978-0-88962-928-8).

the stone frog
I too dream of a jump
this dry pond

daydreaming
the goldfish and I
our eyes wide open

alone at twilight
shadows of an empty nest
sparse twigs overlapped

old nest under eaves 
handful of baby swallows 
twitter in warm rains

encircling bygones…
this demure water lily
under the moon-mist

along the railway
wherever eyes encounter
forget-me-nots blue

Credits: "the stone frog" - Haiku Canada Review 2016); "alone at twilight" - First Place, Haiku Contest#4, Wax Poetry and Art Magazine (2014); "encircling bygones" - Finalist, Garden Haiku Poetry Contest, Burlington Art Centre (2014); "daydreaming" - March Spring Poem Contest (online, 2012); "old nest under eaves" - Haiku Journal 20 (2013); "along the railway" - Haiku Journal 22 (2013).