Syrian poet and essayist Ali Ahmad Said Esber, better known by his pen name Adunis, attended Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) Tuesday to promote the release of his new book Writing in the Horizon of Meaning (2012).

The book is his first compilation of essays published in China. Featuring 30 essays and speeches by Adunis, the works span Arabic literature, politics, poetry and travel.

Speaking about his book, Adunis said the value of context is determined by readers. The warm reception the book has already received in China had "elevated him to a higher level" as a writer, he added. "Context becomes greater when great minds read and becomes weaker when weak minds read it," he said in Arabic through a translator.

Poetry is a form of literature that remains beyond question from critics, he stressed. "Poetry is the most important proof of the existence of human beings, yet you cannot question it just as you cannot question the function of sunshine, air and love," he said.

Adunis said poetry should never be regionalized or seek to conform to the ideologies of religion. "Poetry focuses on personal experiences above than anything else," said the 82-year-old scribe, who himself was jailed in Syria shortly after its independence from France during the 1950s for his beliefs.

"Subjecting poetry to ideology only strangles the deepest thoughts of the human mind," he said.

Adunis said he was "delighted" to be surrounded by young students at the university. "I toiled in the fields on a farm when I was a boy, so when I am asked about my childhood I always answer: 'I had no childhood. I was born an old man,'" he said. "But when I am surrounded by so many youths, I feel rejuvenated."

Adunis, who adopted his pen name in 1948, has published 24 poetry anthologies and more than 20 essay collections. He has won some of the most prestigious international literary awards including the 2007 Bj?rnson Prize and 2011 Goethe Prize.