Jidi Majia is one of China's leading indigenous minority poets. In Words from the Fire he explores his Yi heritage in poems that incorporate Yi origin stories, myths, his endangered fire culture, environmental degradation, and the importance of poetic expression in a time of global changes. His writing is consistently tender, celebratory, and respectful of the natural world and the dignity of all people. He has received major awards in China and abroad, and has been translated into over twenty languages in thirty countries. His most recent honor is the Xu Zhimo Poetry Prize and Lifetime Achievement Award from the UK's King's College, Cambridge.