Poets from Turkey and Taiwan

(English by Adam Cheung, Chinese by Polly Ho)

Bejan Matur shared about her experience as a poet living in Istanbul. She talked about how she evolved as a poet, from keeping notebooks of emotional and random musings to shaping the many lines of words into presentable works of poetry in a process that was like making a sculpture. She also talked about the time she spent in prison when she was a teenager and how that transformed her as a poet and as an acute observer of the world. Bejan encouraged us to think about why we care about poetry. Then she recited “Winds Howl through the Mansions” in Turkish. Even though this was the poet’s first visit to Hong Kong, she demonstrated a genuine respect for the vibrant literary landscape of the city.

羅智成擔任過不同的職位，擁有過不少的名銜，曾任總編輯、電台台長、發行人等，他坦誠其第一身份是詩人，可見作為一個詩人是他自我認同的基本位置。 他是少數既了解台灣及香港情況的台灣人，他認為香港人對於「美好生活」的定義被媒體塑造，認為住大屋､開名車就是美好生活的典範，事實上不一定。他擔任過香港光華中心主任，在香港工作一年多的時間，並花了一段時間了解香港，以他的理解，香港是一個直向發展的城市，什麼都向上發展，高樓大廈，而台灣則是橫向發展。過度的直向發展令人看不到高樓以外的藍天白雲，不能不說有點惋惜。

(photos by Paul Wan)