OneoftheforemostpractitionersofcontemporaryChinesepoetryinTaiwan,ChenLihastranslated,withhiswifeChangFen-ling,theworksofmanypoets—suchasPlath,Heaney,Neruda,Paz,Tranströmer,Szymborska,YosanoAkiko—intoChinese.HesubtlycombinesinhispoetrytheelementsofWesternmodernismandpost-modernismwiththemeritsofOrientalpoeticsandtheChineselanguage,seekingincessantlytofindabalancebetweenartandlife,sufferingandjoy,dreamandreality.In2012,hewasinvitedtotheOlympicpoetryfestival(PoetryParnassus)inLondonasthepoetrepresentingTaiwan.
