Anthony Tao: Poetry of Beijing

Join us for readings and discussion about poetry of Beijing, with American Chinese poet Anthony Tao.

Anthony Tao was born in Beijing, grew up in Overland Park, Kansas, USA, and graduated with a journalism degree from Northwestern University. He returned to Beijing in 2008 to cover the Olympics for ESPN The Magazine, and then stayed. He has worked an assortment of editing and writing jobs, captained and coached Ultimate Frisbee teams, coordinated the Bookworm International Literary Festival, owned a hutong bar, and hosted events ranging from World Cup-style beer pong to monthly poetry readings for the Spittoon Literary Arts Collective. His poetry has appeared in Rattle, Prairie Schooner, NPR, Frontier, The Portland Review, etc. He is a founding member, with Liane Halton, of Poetry x Music Band and is the author of the poetry anthology We Met in Beijing.

Anthony will be  reading from his latest collection of poetry, Beijing Beauty (2026) and discussing the contemporary poetry scene in Beijing, among other topics. This is an English language event.

Free to attend, but please book at our Ticket Tailor page so we know numbers -- tea/coffee available from 4pm -- event will start at 4:15.