About

Poetry, esp. Modernist and contemporary poetry in English, wine (literature and wine), gastronomy.
Here is a longer intro….
I am a poet, critic and wine professional living in Beijing, China. I won the 2012 Cinnamon Press Poetry Award and my first collection of poetry, ‘A Force That Takes’, was published by Cinnamon in 2013.
My major academic publication to date is ‘Wallace Stevens and the Aesthetics of Abstraction’ (Cambridge University Press, 2010) which was a Choice Reviews Outstanding Academic Title for 2011. I was co-editor, with Bart Eeckhout, of ‘Wallace Stevens across the Atlantic’ (Palgrave, 2008) and am an Editorial Board Member of ‘The Wallace Stevens Journal’ (published by Johns Hopkins UP and part of Project Muse). I also contributed to ‘Wallace Stevens, New York, and Modernism’ (Routledge, 2012).
My poems have appeared in Aesthetica, Acumen, Agenda, BODY, Cordite Poetry Review, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Critical Quarterly, Envoi, Orbis, Other Poetry, Papercuts, Poetry Quarterly, PN Review, Seam, The New Writer, Three Line Poetry and other journals. Selections from my work are anthologized in the ‘2014 Forward Book of Poetry’ (Faber & Faber, 2013), ‘Lung Jazz: Young British Poets for Oxfam’ (Eyewear Publishing/Cinnamon Press, 2012), ‘Jericho & Other Stories & Poems’ (Cinnamon Press, 2012), ‘Visiting Wallace: Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of Wallace Stevens’ (Iowa University Press, 2009) and ‘New Poetries IV’ (Carcanet Press, 2007).
I am currently an Associate Professor in English at Tsinghua University where I teach courses in literature and have established the university’s first class in wine. I completed my Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Diploma in 2012 and am also a Certified WSET Educator and WSET Level 3 Assessor. In addition to WSET training, I hold qualifications from the Society of Wine Educators (US) and The Court of Master Sommeliers (UK/US).
In 2007 I co-founded Dragon Phoenix Wine Consulting (www.dpwc.co) with my wife Fongyee Walker. Dragon Phoenix is mainland China’s first fully independent wine education and consulting service. Further information on my experience in wine as a writer, educator and judge can be found at: http://www.dpwc.co