05/08/2025
Correction to the review of “The Lantern and the Night Moths: Five Modern and Contemporary Chinese Poets Selected and Translated by Yilin Wang”, written by Jeremy Audet and published in Vol.47.4 of CV2 Magazine
In the review of “The Lantern and the Night Moths: Five Modern and Contemporary Chinese Poets Selected and Translated by Yilin Wang”, written by Jeremy Audet and published in the spring 2025 issue of CV2 (Vol.47.4), pp. 69-70, three Chinese authors were incorrectly referred to multiple times by their first names, rather than their last or full names, and two Chinese authors had their pen names, which are meant to be one word, split up inappropriately. These errors occurred on the following pages, in the following paragraphs:
On pages 69 and 70, in paragraphs three and four of the former, and in paragraph two of the latter, Qiu Jin 秋瑾 is referred to multiple times as “Jin”, the poet’s first name, and ought to have been referred to each time either as “Qiu”, the poet’s last name, or as “Qiu Jin”, the poet’s full name, this latter option following the standard practice in Chinese of using the full name of a Chinese person when referring to them. ��On page 69, in paragraph four, Fei Ming 废名 is referred to as “Ming”, and ought to have been referred to as “Fei Ming”, as Fei Ming is a pen name (meaning “to be rid of a name”) that should always be treated as one word to preserve this pen name’s meaning.
On page 69, in paragraph four, Zhang Qiaohui 张巧慧 is referred to as “Qiaohui”, the poet’s first name, and ought to have been referred to either as “Zhang”, the poet’s last name, or as “Zhang Qiaohui”, the poet’s full name, this latter option following the standard practice in Chinese of using the full name of a Chinese person when referring to them.
On page 70, in paragraph two, Dai Wangshu 戴望舒 is referred to as “Wangshu”, the poet’s first name, and ought to have been referred to as “Dai”, the poet’s last name, or as “Dai Wangshu”, the poet’s full name. Note that Dai Wangshu is a pen name.
On page 70, in paragraph three, Xiao Xi 小西 is referred to as “Xi”, and ought to have been referred to as “Xiao Xi”, as Xiao Xi is a pen name (meaning “Little West”) that should always be treated as one word to preserve this pen name’s meaning.
The review also included a factual error on page 70, in paragraph two, which stated that Yilin Wang “won” the “legal proceedings” between herself and the British Museum, when in fact Wang’s lawyer was preparing to file a lawsuit against the museum, when, hours before the filing, the museum finally agreed to a settlement that included a public apology for featuring without permission, credit, or compensation, Wang’s translations of poetry by Chinese feminist poet Qiu Jin 秋瑾 in the museum’s “China’s Hidden Century” exhibit.
We want to express our sincere apologies to the authors whose names were misused in this review, as well as to anyone who was negatively affected by these errors. We’d also like to share our gratitude to Yilin Wang for bringing these errors to our attention, and for being extremely generous with her time and attention in helping us correct them. We know that the work and vigilance she and others undertake in order to correct and prevent errors like these from proliferating is exhausting, and we are truly sorry for having added to this load.
We are sincerely disappointed in ourselves for having missed these errors before the issue in which they appeared went to print, and we’re grateful to have the opportunity to correct them now. A corrected version of this review is now available as a free, downloadable pdf on our website, and we will be re-publishing the corrected review in print in our winter 2026 issue, which will appear in January 2026.
Follow the link below to read the corrected review on our website:
https://contemporaryverse2.ca/reviews/the-lantern-and-the-night-moths/
ID: Text graphic with a beige background and the following text in a black font. Text: We made a mistake. Our spring 2025 issue featured a review of Yilin Wang’s book The Lantern and the Night Moths, in which the names of five Chinese authors were used incorrectly. We sincerely apologize for our oversight in publishing these errors, and thank Yilin for bringing them to our attention and helping us correct them. A corrected version of the review is now available on our website, and will also be reprinted in our winter 2026 issue. Head to the link in our bio to read it.
