Changing

Richard Berengarten's Changing is the most ambitious poem ever written outside the Chinese language in honour of the Book of Changes, or Yijing [I Ching]. Changing is a homage both to this ancient text and to Chinese history and culture. The poem takes direct inspiration from the Chinese classic, as well as its form and the inter-relationships of its parts. The work is a remarkable achievement in its own right and a living testament to the enduring and universal quality of the Yijing. Berengarten has been exploring the Yijing for more than 50 years.

Richard Berengarten (formerly known as Burns) was born in London in 1943, into a family of musicians. He has lived in Italy, Greece, the USA and Yugoslavia. His perspectives as a poet combine English, French, Mediterranean, Jewish, Slavic, American and Oriental influences. He deals equally with historical and political material, with inner worlds, and with relationships and everyday life. In the 1970s, he founded and ran the (now almost legendary) international Cambridge Poetry Festival. His work has been translated into 18 languages.