Going to HKU

(Polly Ho)

Kubrick Poetry was held this month in Global Lounge as part of the Monday Writer Forum in the Summer Institute in Arts and Humanities in the University of Hong Kong.  This event marks some special records. It is the first time to hold the event outside Kubrick Bookstore. Our first time to have 4 poets as our guest poets, namely Zhou Xia (趙霞)from Shanghai, Claire Lee(卡兒) from Hong Kong, Viki Holmes and Adam Radford from the UK. Each one carries different talents and personality.
 
Claire is a beautiful painter. She considers herself first a painter, second a poet. She has her solo exhibition in 2008 and 2009 respectfully. That night, she showed to the audience some of her early abstract paintings match with a poem. Her early paints are rather abstract because she attempts to capture the texture and emotion using colours. Claire is a quiet woman. Her reading poems are beautiful and quiet as much as herself.

Viki is a performance poet who is curious to explore different way of experiencing poetry by reading and editing. She has won a number of prizes with her distinctive way of reading. She is also one of the hosts of jazz poetry in Hong Kong. She shared her experience as being a co-editor of Haven anthology of world women’s writing: Not a Muse with Kate Rogers. “It is lots of work. I need to read a lot in order to select. After this editing work, then I know writing poems is much an easy task.”

Adam is an interesting writer and observer. He likes to observe tiny details and he can tell a hidden picture. To him, summer means going home. He grew up in Hong Kong and received university education in the UK. Adam has been writing for 15 years in journals and he likes to write about small facets of life and simple connections.

One of the highlights of the night is Zhou Xia’s improvisation of reading. She did a reading performance with audience, coins and a bottle of water. She came a long way from Shanghai to be here. She insisted that there is nothing to hide from the emotion. “Be true to yourself. If you are happy you are happy. If you are sad you are sad.” In writing, she is always showing her true self.

The event is sparkled with discussion of performance poetry and pure poetry reading. It is lengthened with the last open-mic reading from different audience include Carrie, Jason, Justin, Benjamin, Oswald and Siulong.

That night is of special meaning to me. It is a proud moment of going back to my Alma Mate to hold the Kubrick Poetry after 2 years graduation. My heartfelt gratitude to Rani Olafsdottir for giving us a chance to be part of the Summer Institute programme. It is an enjoyable night indeed!

(photos by Paul Wan)