A Hong Kong poet’s sense of place

In order to think about what it means to be a Hong Kong poet, one must first think about Hong Kong itself. It was famously labelled a borrowed place on borrowed time: it may since been returned, but if anything, Hong Kong can at times seem less permanent than ever, and Hong Kong poets have lived through transitions, particularly in the last two decades.

So when we talk about Hong Kong poets, who do we refer to, and what do they have in common? While some of the poets are ethnically Chinese, there are equally non-Chinese writers writing in Hong Kong, whose works have made significant impact within and beyond the local community. Some Hong Kong writers were born and grew up in Hong Kong, but some were born or grew up elsewhere, such as the UK, the US, Canada, Australia, other Mainland Chinese cities, as well as from Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore or Malaysia, but became active writers when they live, study or work in Hong Kong.

Thinking of the creative output emerging from such a cosmopolitan, diverse literary community steeped in local history and traditions , what are their underlying themes and preoccupations? Living through a city in/of  transition, how do they write creatively, engage the use of imagination? By choosing to write in English—the language of the colonial power, dispatched almost a quarter-century ago-these these writers trying to put down on the map and what do they articulate to the English-speaking world?

There are no answers, of course, only disparate voices, voices with affinities and differences. In reading or listening to their work, we can discover both the place, its physical landscape, and the poet’s relation to it: the stories, the imagination, the people, the history between the lines. Hong Kong is place that has for its entire existence been peopled by those that come and go, settle, depart and return: most belong to somewhere else as much as to Hong Kong.

 

It is easy to fall into the temptation of judging the work of the poet based on how authentic he or she is as a local writer, where he or she was born, or how much it represents the “real” Asia. But a poem is a becoming. It is not a piece of travelogue. A poem is a distillation of the truth. It is faithful to its creator. Authenticity of voice does not rule out the use of imagination. For a diasporic poet born to a Chinese or half-Chinese family and living overseas, how does the purpose of writing change? Does one’s sense of home or displacement change over time? Can you replace one home for another? On the other hand, writing in an age of post-protest Hong Kong, a poet reflects his or her feelings with originality and emotional honesty.

Contrary to a non-fiction writer, a poet’s job is not to represent facts. His duty is to illuminate, respond to, or transform facts. In essence, a poet channels his or her sense of place through craft and subjectivity. The poetic work can translate or transcend the place, offering a new way of “seeing”.

At the event on 2 October (8pm HK time), some leading Hong Kong poets including Eddie Tay, Jason Eng Hun Lee, David McKirdy and Louise Leung will read from their work and speak to Melanie Ho from Asian Review of Books on the poems that illuminate their sense of place.

Sharing an affinity in their lived experiences in the city, these poets are nevertheless distinct in voice and storytelling, with culturally specific backgrounds and family histories. As the late PK Leung—one of Hong Kong’s most celebrated poets—once wrote: “Everyone is telling it—the story of Hong Kong. Everyone is telling a different story.”

 

Coming from Singapore and having spent decades living and teaching in Hong Kong, Eddie’s poetry examines place as a local happening: a vibrant, multilingual environment. In Louise Leung’s work, we can explore a young female poet’s world-view, the values and people she cares about, and how she channels her emotions and longings with honesty and vivid imagination. For Jason Eng Hun Lee, a British Malaysian-Chinese poet who writes and teaches literature in Hong Kong, home is complex, hybrid, anchored between imagination and reality. It has never been about a single location. A Hong Kong expatriate who has lived in the city for decades and witnessed both the colonial days and the handover of Hong Kong, David McKirdy’s poems engage with its history and local stories.

Featuring diverse voices of poets writing across the Anglophone Chinese diaspora through online live readings and conversations, the festival is a place where you can learn more about the meaning of home, and to reflect on the importance of a poet’s unique voice.  Anyone—anywhere—can join in and take part in the conversation. With its wide range of themes—from family history, experimental poetics, migration, cultural hybridity, the language of self, women’s writing to the mapping of desire–the Festival encourages readers to think more about the connections and unique voices of these poets, across a wider diasporic space, to celebrate poets from under-represented backgrounds, and to appreciate and affirm the value of such exciting transnational poetry between cultures.

 

Poetics of Home Festival runs from 22 September to 6 October, featuring diasporic poets such as Sarah Howe, Marilyn Chin, Mary Jean Chan, Kit Fan, Hannah Lowe, Jennifer Wong as well as Anglophone poets based in Hong Kong including Tammy Ho, Eddie Tay, Nicholas Wong, Jason Eng Hun Lee, Louise Leung, Felix Chow, Cheng Tim Tim, Antony Huen and others. Do check out the festival programme at www.poeticsofhome.co.uk/events. You can also follow the updates by connecting with the festival via Twitter (@poeticsofhome), Facebook (poeticsofhomefest) or Instagram (@poeticsofhome).

Jennifer Wong is a Hong Kong poet now residing in the UK. Her books include Goldfish (Chameleon Press), Diary of a Miu Miu Salesgirl (Bitter Melon Poetry) and time difference (Verve), and the collection 回家 Letters Home (Nine Arches Press). Instagram @jenniferwswong