Polish poet Adam Zagajewski strikes chord in China

Polish poet Adam Zagajewski will see the first two volumes of his poems translated into Chinese launched in Guangzhou this month, but he's already made a name for himself among the mainland's literati.

"I find my presence in China intriguing because it happened behind my back - and I say that without any sadness but rather with pleasure," says Zagajewski, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature in 2010.

A few years ago, Zagajewski heard rumours that Chinese poets had translated some of his poems and they were circulating on the internet. And then came an even bigger surprise: in November he won the Zhongkun International Poetry Prize.

Considered China's literary Nobel, the Zhongkun is awarded every two years in Beijing with two winners in each edition - a Chinese and a foreign poet - and is the only literary distinction of its kind to be awarded to foreigners.

Academic commitments - Zagajewski teaches at the University of Chicago - meant he couldn't pick up the prize in person, but he didn't have to wait long for a second chance to collect a Chinese prize: on Wednesday he will be awarded the prestigious Poetry and People Award, a lifetime achievement honour, in Guangzhou.

Zagajewski, who reads classical as well as contemporary Chinese poets in translation, isn't sure what it is about his poems that appeals to mainland readers. He says he only knows his poems from the inside, but he suspects it may be a connection between images and ideas. "It seems my poems are written images and images are translatable and underneath these images there are some ideas, some reflections," he says.