Description
Hong Kong Poems is the first-ever collection of poems about Hong Kong in parallel English and Chinese texts. Appearing in the year when Hong Kong returns to Chinese sovereignty, this collection offers insights into what Hong Kong was and is on the edge of becoming. Parkin and Wong speak of the dynamism of Hong Kong, of a city where the present meets the future. As well, they depict the "astronauts" with their families in Canada and their businesses in Hong Kong. They also evoke the feelings of the poor who are leaving the countryside for the dreams and hopes of magical Hong Kong. Many of the poems develop from within the Chinese poetic tradition of nature writing, while also recreating the troubled world of developers and their need of land for expansion. The juxtaposition of an English-Canadian poet and a Chinese-Canadian poet - with their poems in both English and Chinese - allows the reader to enter a dialogue about Asian modernity, a state of being that the Hong Kong critic Ackbar Abbas has called "postculture."
About the authors
Andrew Parkin emigrated to Canada in 1970. In 1990 he went to Hong Kong as Head and Chair Professor of English and Fellow of Shaw College, instigating Chinese-English poetry readings by local and visiting poets. He taught graduate courses, creative writing and children’s literature. Since he has been abroad, Andrew has visited Canada every year to be with family and friends. His first three collections of poetry were published in Canada, including his previous Ekstasis book, Yokohama Days, Kyoto Nights. He has given both academic lectures and interactive poetry readings in many countries around the world.
Laurence Wong has published 11 collections of poetry and numerous books of essays. He is currently University Reader and Head of the Department of Translation at Lingnan College, Hong Kong.
