Michael Jackson was many things: singer, songwriter, dancer, choreographer. He was also a poet.

Seven years after the pop king's death, his one and only poetry collection, Dancing the Dream: Poems and Reflections, sees a Chinese-English bilingual edition that was released this month.

The book was originally published in 1992, but this edition on East China Normal University Press is its first translation into simplified Chinese.

Highly autobiographical

In an Internet chat in 1995, Jackson told fans that his poetry collection is more autobiographical than the 1988 anthology film Moonwalker, because it comes directly from his heart and encompasses what he would think during his travels.

Local translator Chen Dongbiao's translations are complemented by hundreds of photographs, manuscripts and paintings Jackson collected, as in the original edition. The book also follows the same design.

Chen told the Global Times that he was never into music in general, but Michael Jackson is an exception. He played and replayed his video collection when he was a young student in the 1980s, and was happy to be part of a project "that no translator would refuse."

He is most impressed with Breaking Through, which consists of just eight lines.

"I am not saying it is better than the rest, but I am struck by the sense of escaping bondage and utmost freedom this work expresses, just as its title suggests. Moreover, when I read it, I feel as if he is singing the poem," Chen said.

Chen, who has also translated Vladimir Nabokov, W. B. Yeats and Wallace Stevens, said he would consider the collection good poetry even if it was not written by Michael Jackson.

"I always thought of his lyrics as straightforward, cynical, innocent and provocative, and many of them are charming enough just as sentences alone. That is why I wasn't very surprised to find he has a poetry collection.

"It has the innocence of a child, the most everyday English that one would overhear on the street, the universal emotions, 100 percent honesty and rhythms that were made only for the pleasure of reading and listening," Chen wrote in the prologue to the book.

The book's editor, Xu Jing, told the Global Times that the publisher doesn't see it as just another celebrity book, but "real, pure literature and poetry."

"We held trials for five translators, including a fan who volunteered. Evidently Chen emerged as the best translator, for he is great at translating this genre and really gets the vibe of the verses," Xu said.

Michael Jackson Fan Club Shanghai member Binbin (left) and local translator Chen Dongbiao (right) at the book launch of Michael Jackson's poetry collection Dancing the Dream Photos: Courtesy of East China Normal University Press

A gateway to humanism

Long-time music critic Fei Qiang said his admiration for Jackson mostly had been confined to his music and videos, but that the poetry collection offered him a gateway to the artist's inner world and humanism.

"It puts Jackson in a new light for me, as I get to learn about his ideals, and the kind of spiritual height he reached. This new recognition and deeper understanding makes me appreciate him more," said Fei, who made his name writing for pop music magazine World of Music and Visuals.

Michael Jackson Fan Club Shanghai member Binbin, who is widely considered the top impersonator of Jackson's voice in China, said the collection shows the various dimensions of Jackson's rich spiritual world, and therefore can be seen as his spiritual heritage.

"A great majority of the content is about children, innocence, love and care for the world. They are noble and heartwarming. I think it helps one see the great human being that Jackson was, and what kind of emotions and longings he had. After reading the poems, one might have different interpretations when going back to Jackson's songs," Binbin said.

The book has already been reviewed on the culture site douban.com, scoring 8 out of 10 points so far.

"There is a Michael Jackson you cannot find elsewhere in this book. He puts the purest part of his world into each poem. Though we tend to emphasize his music and live performance, this collection shows what really makes him a great person," user Loveholic wrote.