Tag: Poetry

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Thank you to everyone who braved the filthy weather and turned down Thanksgiving to show up at Mind HK‘s poetry event Poetry for Mental Health: The Healing Power of Words in SoHo last night! The event was part of a week-long exhibition More Than A Label: I Was. I Am. I Will Be. I felt quite emotional after reading my poem, listening to the stories of the two other poets, the incredible Vish and Derek, and chatting about the stigma of mental illness in Hong Kong. There was an overwhelming amount of love in the air at the intimate event at the uber-cute gallery on Lyndhurst Street. I can’t wait for the next one!

Thanks to Mind for the endless encouragement, opportunity to read, and for curating such a powerful exhibition of letters and artwork. I loved reading every single one of the letters on display and the psychedelic 3D artwork of Mind HK ambassadors’ brains! Thanks especially to Odile for emceeing and sharing her own insightful observations. If you’ve not already seen it, you’ve still got a chance! The exhibition is open until Monday.

#More Than A Label #Poetry for Mental Health: The Healing Power of Words #I Was. I Am. I Will Be

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The story behind this year’s HKWC anthology, A Book of Changes, has been a lot more dramatic than anything you are likely to read inside! Hats off to the editors who have somehow kept their sanity. My dystopian short story, Toot, is a bit of a departure from the usual stuff I write and I am excited to see it in print! The anthology will launch at the 2023 Hong Kong International Lit Fest March 2023 but be uploaded to Amazon shortly before. Sneak peak of the cover art below!

Also launching in March 2023 is the Women in Publishing Society‘s anthology Imprint 21, which will be held at the Foreign Correspondents Club. A couple of my humorous short stories are buried deep inside, like splinters of smashed Heiniken bottles nestled amongst precious emeralds…

More anthology news TBA Nov 18!

2023 HKWC Anthology

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Happy to be taking part in Mind HK‘s anti-stigma campaign More Than A Label‘s first anniversary event; ‘More Than A Label: I Was, I Am, I Will Be‘, an exhibition of art, poetry and letters by Mind HK ambassadors aimed at de-stigmatising mental health, which will be open to the public Nov 21 – Nov 28. The exhibition will be held at 5, Sun Fung Mansion, 52-60 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong Nov 21-28. More details soon!

Some of my previous ‘rants’ about mental health!

https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/short-reads/article/3181151/im-bipolar-and-seeing-word-headlines-divided

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/article/3120634/bipolar-disorder-sufferers-and-medical-experts-share-how

https://themighty.com/topic/bipolar-disorder/mania-bipolar-disorder-sleepwalking

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I took part in my first lit fest last weekend reading an excerpt from my absurdist short story Shitstorm at the 2021 Hong Kong International Literary Festival! Shitstorm is one of many short stories and poems published by the Hong Kong Writers Circle in their 2021 anthology After The Storm.

The book is now available to buy as an ebook and in paperback on Amazon, in Bookazine and (from next Friday) in my local indie bookstore, Kidnapped in Sai Kung! Even though I had a slight brain fart moment in the Q&A bit, nobody seemed to notice (Brain Fart is my default setting) and I had an absolute blast reading to a live audience, instead of to myself in a poky little studio, imagining the groans of RTHK listeners! Still not sure how I managed to poke myself in the eye with the mic though… At least that‘s never happened in the studio before.

Thanks to Hong Kong Buzz for their little plug of the event and to the Writers Circle for introducing me to some of the best people in Hong Kong and making it all happen! If you’d like to join our Circle, click here! And if you’d like to support the HK Lit Fest by sponsoring an event or becoming a patron, click here!

When you really don’t trust the people you’re with (or just forget to remove your mask!)

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War of Voices will be on the Voice Your Passion poetry channel on YouTube Oct 18! Thanks to Dr. Ahmed Elbeshlawy for inviting me to read and for sending me his latest poetry book, Unappeasable Ghosts. Looking forward to interviewing Ahmed on S2 of Mental Ideas soon, which is shaping up to be a cracker with a stellar line-up of guests! This time the focus is on the mercurial, symbiotic relationship between mental health and imagination.

You can listen to me reading War of Voices for VYP below and buy the poetry anthology in which the poem was first published here!

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Woohoo! My first attempt at penning a poem was published April 22, 2021 by Proverse Publishing and Chinese University Press and my copy arrived today! Mingled Voices 5 is an anthology of poems on the theme of ‘Hunger’ by poets around the world that won or were shortlisted for the 2020 International Proverse Poetry Prize. 

All the featured poets are incredible and I can only put my own inclusion down to a fortuitous accident or a moment of drug or alcohol relapse on the part of the editors. 🤣 Mingled Voices 5 is available in paperback and as an ebook. It’s free to subscribers of Kindle Unlimited!

The 2021 Proverse Poetry Prize is now open for entries! This year’s theme is ‘Shielding’ open to interpretation any way the poet chooses. Submissions close June 30, 2021!

Also open for submissions by Hong Kong based poets is RTHK‘s annual poetry competition. This year’s theme is ‘White’ and open to misinterpretation any way the reader chooses! Entries close July 12!

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One little hit of dopamine I experienced last year was winning a place in the 2020 Proverse Poetry Prize Anthology for my first bash at writing a poem! War of Voices is my little rant on social media, populism and propaganda. The anthology, called Mingled Voices 5, will be published by Proverse and Chinese University Press as an ebook and in paperback THIS WEEK (April 22), but is already available for preorder on Amazon!

I’m also writing a humorous short story for the Hong Kong Writer’s Circle‘s 2021 anthology. This year’s theme is After The Storm. I seem to have been mentioned in the same sentence as ‘storm‘ quite a bit recently, which is either profoundly disturbing or deliciously serendipitous. If I don’t blow myself out, the anthology will be launched at the HK Lit Fest and published in Nov!

https://cup.cuhk.edu.hk/MingledVoices5

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In a daze to learn my first (and only) poem, War of Voices, has won a place in the 2020 Proverse Poetry Prize and will be published in Proverse Publishing‘s 2021 anthology next April! Which place (last place?) will be announced at a reception in Hong Kong Nov 19.

My late grandfather, a poet, who also dabbled in banking, would be proud! I’d love to say he was an inspiration but since his legacy is all in Welsh (and it’s a sin to translate Welsh poetry into English) it’s impossible for me to tell if he’s been much of an influence or not.

Thank you, Proverse! You have made a wannabe poet with more issues than Vogue very happy.

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I’m excited to be collaborating with the Hong Kong Writers Circle producing and presenting a brand new strand of podcasts exploring the timely theme of ‘Masking The City: Hong Kong in Allegory‘!

Writer Unblocked showcases original short stories, poetry and humor to unlock and unblock Hong Kong’s creative art and soul. While some lucky writers and artists have been feeling creatively inspired by the protests, lockdown and surreality of social distancing, others have been left feeling disoriented, emotionally locked and creatively blocked.

Join me, familiar and debut voices from the Hong Kong Writers Circle as we attempt to ease the ‘blockdown’. The series will be recorded Sept/Oct 2020 and tie in with the publication of the HKWC’s 2020 anthology in November! The first episode will be recorded Sept 14 and feature Chief Editor Nathan Lauer and HKWC Chair Chris Maden.