‘Delivery man-poet': Chinese man with no higher education appointed to head academic body

South China Morning Post

2 days ago

A food courier in China who has written thousands of poems and published several books of poetry has been appointed as the head of an non-governmental organisation promoting reading in public.
In early June, Wang Jibing, 55, was named vice director of the Xuzhou All People Reading Enhancement Association, a charitable organisation affiliated with Xuzhou municipal civil affairs bureau in eastern Jiangsu province, the news outlet The Paper reported.
Wang has been dubbed the 'food courier poet' thanks to his dedication to literature.
Wang Jibing writes poetry in his spare time, even jotting down lines on his palm while waiting for food delivery orders. Photo: dzwww.com
He uses his spare time and the intervals when he is waiting for delivery orders to write poems on scraps of paper or even on his palms.
So far, Wang has written 6,000 poems and published four books of poetry.
Wang dropped out of secondary school because of his impoverished family background.
He then worked as a construction worker, a food stall owner and a waste collector before becoming a food courier in 2019.
In 2022, a short poem he wrote, titled A Person in a Rush, was shared on social media by the famous poet Chen Zhaohua and it resonated with many internet users in China.