Zhai Yongming was born in Chengdu, Sichuan, in 1955. She graduated from Chengdu Telecommunications Engineering College (now known as the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China) in 1980. After resigning from a position in a physics research organization, she lived abroad for some years. She began to publish poetry in 1981, and in 1984 her poetry collection Women rocked the literary world with its unique and distinctive language. In 1998, she opened the White Nights bar and cultural space in Chendu where she has coordinated many literary and cultural activities over the years. She has published 10 collections of poetry including Women, On All Roses and New York, New York, to the West. In 2005, she was included in the list of “China’s Charming 50”; in 2007, she won the China Kun International Poetry Award; and in 2010, she was selected among China’s Top 10 Female Poets. In 2011, the chairman of the Italian Ceppo Pistoia International Award described Zhai Yongming as “one of today’s greatest international poets”.