China's Emily Dickinson

Yu Xiuhua, 39, a rural poet with disabilities, was elected vice president of the Writers Association of her hometown, Zhongxiang City of central China's Hubei Province, in late January owing to the popularity of her poetry on the Internet. She suffers from cerebral palsy, caused by a lack of oxygen during birth. Known as China's Emily Dickinson, famed U.S. poet, Yu has written more than 2,000 poems despite a lack of formal education in this aspect. Her best-known poet is Crossing Half of Big China to Accost You.

Anti-Apartheid Writer Dies

South African writer and outspoken apartheid critic Andre Brink, 79, died in February after suffering a blood clot while on a flight to Cape Town from a Belgian University where he was awarded an honorary doctorate. Winner of several book awards and nominated three times for a Nobel Prize, Brink was an emeritus professor of literature at the University of Cape Town after formally retiring in 2005. His works have been translated into some 30 languages and published across the world.