Wu Xia, a working poet, left her hometown at 14 to work on an assembly line in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen. As documented in the award-winning film “The Verse of Us” (2014), she transformed her feelings during those times into poetic expressions. However, her post-documentary life hasn’t unfolded quite the way she had hoped. Leaving the factory, she encountered persistent setbacks in finding writing-related jobs. Determined to stay in Shenzhen, Wu Xia and her parents now rent a house in a nearby workers’ community, trying their best to navigate the escalating costs of city living so as to

Wu Xia, a working poet, left her hometown at 14 to work on an assembly line in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen. As documented in the award-winning film “The Verse of Us” (2014), she transformed her feelings during those times into poetic expressions. However, her post-documentary life hasn’t unfolded quite the way she had hoped. Leaving the factory, she encountered persistent setbacks in finding writing-related jobs. Determined to stay in Shenzhen, Wu Xia and her parents now rent a house in a nearby workers’ community, trying their best to navigate the escalating costs of city living so as to make ends meet.

This summary doesn’t quite do justice to her story cri. The video (just ten mins) made me tear up. She’s a really good writer - her brilliance shines through, man. I wish she could be free to write. Seeing the poverty she has to live in is really depressing.