Typing with his nose and chin, China man with cerebral palsy pens poems, 17,000-word play

He cannot stand on his own or hold a pen, but a man with cerebral palsy in Shandong, China, has written hundreds of poems, and a play he dreams of seeing performed on stage.

Mr Zhang Jiubin, 34, was born with the brain condition and diagnosed when he was three months old, his parents told China’s Qilu Evening News, adding that he grew up without full control of his hands and speech abilities.

With no school willing to enrol him, he was taught how to read pinyin and Chinese characters on an improvised chalkboard at home by his father. An elder brother gave him a phone with which Zhang learnt to type on its keypad.

“He started poking at the keypad with a chopstick, but later found it inconvenient and directly used the tip of his nose to type,” said his father, Mr Zhang Yonggui.

At first, he had to hold up the books and turn the pages for his son. Before long, the boy started to read independently, using his chin and nose to turn the pages of the books his father placed on a table.

The senior Zhang said his son began to show a yearning to write about 10 years ago, and poetry became his chosen literary form. The father said his son started writing poems when they received 100 yuan (S$18.70) from a local news portal in the spring of 2014.

“I don’t know literature, but I know the mountains and waters written by others have given him hope,” said Mr Zhang about his son.

Today, the younger Mr Zhang has earned some 5,000 yuan for his published poems, a selected few hundred out of the nearly 1,000 he has written.

He has also joined online interest groups, exchanging thoughts and ideas with fellow poets.

His mother, Ms Wang Gairong, told a newspaper that he is persistent and works hard to hone his craft, often writing into the night while in bed.

A dictionary he has been using since young is in tatters from frequent flipping.

In July, he completed a 17,000-word play titled Candle Heart, a project that took him half a year to complete.

“I want to move my play onto the stage as soon as possible,” Mr Zhang told a newspaper, adding that it is about a wealthy woman who left her comfortable life to teach in a village in the hills.

“Words have shown me the joys and colours of life. Words are the morning sun, the winds of spring,” he added lyrically.

For now, the elder Mr Zhang said he takes comfort from the lines in one of his son’s poems: In this life, the most delayed words are telling you “I love you, my father”.

The eastern province of Shandong is home to other writers with cerebral palsy.

One of them, Ms Sun Lukang, has published at least four volumes of poetry and prose written with her feet.