Kubrick Poetry • No book launch, No farewell, Just poems

 

時間 Time：2026/6/14 (Sunday) 3:00pm-4:00pm 
地點 Venue：Auditorium (1/F) in Broadway Cinematheque 
主持 Moderator: Polly Ho 
 詩人 Poet：Atom Cheung 
語言Language：Cantonese sharing and English reading 
登記 Registration: Link 

Define home. Say, your current one. How does it match with the way you intend to live? How does it respond to the new ways you intend to live? And if you had to leave it, say, in two weeks, how difficult would it be, or not at all? June 14. No book launch. No farewell. Just poems. Pieces of home housed in books yet to be birthed. 

Atom Cheung, a.k.a Atom Alicia, is the voice and curator of the poetry podcast Atomic Heart. His first full-length poetry collection, Forty-One Frames, is coming out in September through the local publisher 石磬文化 Musical Stone. His previous books, published under the Atomic Heart label, include the experimental works Anxious Headlights and Parallelograms and 89 09 12 21. Both are housed at Asia Art Archive. Atom is a former radio presenter at RTHK. Visit his website at www.atomcheung.com

Kubrick Poetry • April • Light Year: a poetry reading

時間 Time：2026/4/19 (Sunday) 3:00pm-4:00pm

地點 Venue：Auditorium (1/F) in Broadway Cinematheque 

主持 Moderator: Polly Ho 

詩人 Poets：Jennifer Wong, Gillian Bickley, Bonnie Wai-Lee Kwong

語言Language：English 

登記 Registration: Link

How do you map out a light year, or any year of our lives? How do you measure time and space? Or love. How do we choose to remember things dear to us? With the passage of years, do we gain new perspectives towards seeing things, and does time change our relationship with others and with ourselves? 

Light Year by Jennifer Wong is a meditation on time. These poems conjure an intricate constellation of friendships and love in the midst of upheaval, transformation and change.

 

Author and publisher Gillian Bickley and poet Bonnie Kwong will join the reading as guest readers to share their poetry on love and deep wounds, and convey how they grapple with their shifting perspectives/identities as a woman, a daughter / or a mother. 

Jennifer Wong is a Hong Kong-born poet who lives in the UK. She studied English at Oxford and has an MA and PhD in creative writing from University of East Anglia and Oxford Brookes. She has published three collections including Letters Home 回家 (Nine Arches Press) and is the co-editor of State of Play: Poets of East and Southeast Asian Heritage in Conversation (Out-spoken Press, 2023) and Where Else: An International Hong Kong Poetry Anthology (Verve, 2023). She is also the author of Identity, Home and Writing Elsewhere (Bloomsbury, 2023). 

Gillian Bickley, with her late beloved husband, Verner Bickley, is the co-founder of the two International Proverse Prizes for writing previously unpublished in English. Her own published work and research balances poetry with Nineteenth Century topics (including Hong Kong public education, and the Christian mission to China). Her current focus is the management of Verner’s literary legacy and his work in education and cross-cultural understanding. The most recent of her own six poetry collections is Grandfather’s Robin.

Bonnie Wai-Lee Kwong works in many mediums: poetry, music, theater, performance, video and software. Born in Wisconsin and raised in Hong Kong, she lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for two decades before returning to Hong Kong to care for her mother. She can still be spotted in California from time to time. The department of peace (Sixteen Rivers Press) is her third book of poetry, following The Quenching (Finishing Line Press) and ravel (Neopoesis Press).  Her next book, Thank You, Silence, is forthcoming with Omnidawn Publishing in October 2027.

Poster designed by Patrick Liu (Studio P)

Kubrick Poetry • March • Twin Cities

時間 Time：2026/3/1 (Sunday) 3:00pm-4:00pm 

地點 Venue：Auditorium (1/F) in Broadway Cinematheque 

主持 Moderator: Polly Ho  

嘉賓 Guests：Joshua Ip, Jason Polley, Lian-Hee Wee, and Marco Yan 

語言Language：English 

登記 Registration: Link

Perhaps Hong Kong is a city of cinema. From the neo-noir neon stylings of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, to the stylised longing of early Wong Kar Wai… 

 And perhaps Singapore is a city of form. Structure drives everything in this rigidly planned city-state… 

Combine the two, and what do you get?—The twin cinema. 

The twin cinema, created by Singapore poet Yeow Kai Chai, is a rigid, yet spectacular poetic form that mixes constraint with possibility. Its twin columns can be read vertically down as discrete poems, yet you can also hop across the space between skyscrapers and find meaning that bridges the gap horizontally for each line. The twin cinema can be used to contrast two opposed points of view, or find a common bridge stretching across a seemingly insurmountable gap – the art of juxtaposition, after all, is at the heart of modern cinema. 

In this anthology, poets from the twin cities of Singapore and Hong Kong tackle the challenge of the twin cinema form in tandem with their own interpretation of lines that bind or divide us. We share a familiar postcolonial history, rich financial centres and trading ports bustling with energy, in the shadow of a hinterland yawning across the water. Yet we also rival each other ceaselessly, and are cleaved by language, geography, and politics. This is fertile ground for a poetry of proposition or opposition – and may it grow cities.

Poster designed by Patrick Liu (Studio P)

Kubrick Poetry • 與詩有緣 與書有分 與藍有愛

時間 Time：2026/3/8 (日) 3:00pm-4:00pm 

地點 Venue：油麻地 Kubrick電影中心一樓講廳 

主持 Moderator: Polly Ho 

 詩人 Poets：Florence Ng 吳智欣、萍凡人、劉偉成 

語言Language：廣東話 

登記 Registration: Link 

電子書很方便，下載了可以讀，可以帶出街，帶電子書出遊非常方便，為什麼還要出實體書？是次詩會邀請了三位詩人Florence Ng、萍凡人和劉偉成，他們在香港堅持寫詩，也堅持出版實體的詩集，寫詩是一種冷門的興趣，出版詩集更是吃力不討好的事，為什麼他們仍然花時間和心力去做呢？他們的心路歷程是怎樣的？他們最新的詩集均有藍色封面，是巧合還是一種偏愛？ 

Florence Ng ，香港詩人，英中詩集Wild Boar in Victoria Harbour《維多利亞港的野豬》和Twelve Ways of Looking at Blue《觀看藍的12種態度》的作者，網上動物詩刊Pause for Paws《毛寶寶詩刊》的創刊編輯。 

萍凡人，曾於廣告公司任職撰稿員，愛好文學和旅行，主力創作中英文詩作，著有詩集《潛》。曾獲第三十一屆及三十二屆青年文學獎。 

劉偉成，香港土生土長，香港浸會大學人文學系哲學博士，從事統籌出版事務工作，又於本地大學兼職教授寫作、編輯與出版相關課程。曾出版散文集《持花的小孩》（2007）、《翅膀的鈍角》（2012）和《影之忘返》（2021）；新近出版詩集《陽光棧道有多寬》（2014）、《果實微溫》（2020）和《窗池不皺》（2024）。2021年獲香港藝術發展局的「藝術家年獎」（文學藝術）。

Poster designer: Patrick Liu (Studio P)

Kubrick Poetry • February • On The Verge

時間 Time：2026/2/8 (Sunday) 3:00pm-4:00pm 

地點 Venue：Auditorium (1/F) in Broadway Cinematheque 

主持 Moderator: Polly Ho  

詩人 Poet：Claire Lee 

語言Language：Cantonese sharing and English reading 

登記 Registration: Link 

I find joy in arranging objects. 

 ― Claire Lee 

The symbolic or real pilgrimages can take many forms, from the little things we do every day in our homes to bigger things we set out to achieve. Even ordinary objects like dishcloths, mirrors, and chairs can be materials for re-creation by Claire. She manifests her emotional journey through recreating objects, changing them and then writing about them in the form of poetry and prose. On The Verge is the latest poetry collection published by Claire. This collection spans across six years, which shows you Claire’s imaginative visions of ordinary moments with objects. It also shows you the shared experiences of loss and loneliness that people go through during personal and global conflicts. These poems and prose takes you on a spiritual journeys. Through them, Claire expresses a deeper, more expansive understanding of the complexities of life. 

Claire Lee, a visual artist from Hong Kong. Her work explores the complex relationship between vulnerability and fortitude, examining both physical and emotional aspects of the human experience. Lee’s creative process involves experimenting ink and paint with tactile materials and treatments, resulting in works that span from paintings and drawings to objects, poetry, and photography. Her poetry has been published in various anthologies, including Not a Muse by Haven Books and Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine, and has been featured in the Asia Art Archive, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal and other platforms. Claire has also performed at events such as Kubrick Poetry at the University of Hong Kong, the Fringe Theatre at Hong Kong International Literary Festival, and the Hong Kong Book Fair. Her latest work, titled On The Verge, is a collection of prose and poetry exploring emotional journeys through everyday objects.

Kubrick Poetry Reading

時間 Time：2025/11/16 (Sunday) 3:00pm-4:00pm 

地點 Venue：Auditorium (1/F) in Broadway Cinematheque  

主持 Moderator: Polly Ho 

 詩人 Poets：Eric Yip, Tim Tim Cheng, James Shea 

語言Language：English 

登記 Registration：Link

Welcome to an afternoon of words and wonder. We are honoured to present a unique gathering of voices: James Shea, Tim Tim Cheng, and Eric Yip. Each poet brings a distinct style, offering us glimpses into their newest collections. This event is a mixed conversation and reading where the poets share not only their latest work but also insights into their creative journeys. 

Eric Yip is from Hong Kong. In 2021 he won the National Poetry Competition, and in 2025 he received an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors. His writing has appeared in Best New Poets, The Guardian, The Poetry Review, and Poets & Writers. He is the poetry editor at Cha. 

Tim Tim Cheng is a poet, translator, editor, and teacher based between Glasgow and Hong Kong. They wrote The Tattoo Collector (Nine Arches Press, 2024) and Tapping at Glass (Verve, 2023). They are translating Ka Yee Lee’s 曝光 Exposure (Postscript Cultural Collaboration, 2022) from Chinese to English. They are teaching poetry at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. 

James Shea is the author of Last Day of My Face (University of Iowa Press), selected by Brenda Shaughnessy for the 2024 Iowa Poetry Prize. His previous collections include The Lost Novel (Fence Books) and Star in the Eye, selected by Nick Flynn for the Fence Modern Poets Series. He is the translator of Applause for a Cloud (Black Ocean), a collection of contemporary Japanese poetry by Sayumi Kamakura. He co-edited The Routledge Global Haiku Reader (Routledge) and co-translated Moving a Stone: Selected Poems of Yam Gong (Zephyr Press). He directs the bilingual creative writing program at Hong Kong Baptist University and has received grants from the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, National Endowment for the Arts, and Vermont Arts Council.

Kubrick Poetry • July • Tales from a Contested City

時間 Time：2025/7/13 (Sunday) 3:00pm-4:00pm

地點 Venue：Auditorium (1/F) in Broadway Cinematheque, Prosperous Garden,3 Public Square Street,Yau Ma Tei

主持 Moderator: Polly Ho 

作家 Writer：Peter Cookson Smith

語言Language：English 

登記 Registration: Link

 

These 33 tales from the contested city of Hong Kong (Proverse Hong Kong) provocatively reflect its often confounding and contentious history and personality. They range from narratives of real life to the largely inventive; from the serious to the satirical. Past, present and future are imaginatively intertwined in a variety of situations which explore the city's underlying chemistry. The tales illuminate many corners of the urban experience, sometimes injected with the necessary dose of congeniality mixed with occasional melancholy which is embedded in the city's life force.

 

This is Peter’s first book of fiction. In this session, we will shed light into the tales and the original thought and history behind the tales.

 

Peter Cookson Smith is a long-time resident of Hong Kong. In 1977 he founded URBIS – one of the first specialist city-planning, urban-design and environmental consultancies in South-east Asia. He directed some of the first new town and urban regeneration studies in Hong Kong and has directed an extensive range of projects across Asia. For several years he was an Associate Professor at the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Architecture and is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is a Past-President of both the Hong Kong Institute of Planners and the Hong Kong Institute of Urban Design. He writes and lectures widely on the subject of urban design, and is the author and illustrator of eight books: The Urban Design of Impermanence (2006) about Hong Kong; The Urban Design of Concession (2011) about the growth and development of Chinese Treaty Port cities, The Urban Design of Intervention (2014) about Asian cities and more. 

Kubrick Poetry • July • Making Peace with yourself

時間 Time：2025/7/27 (Sunday) 3:00pm-4:00pm 

地點 Venue：Auditorium (1/F) in Broadway Cinematheque 

主持 Moderator: Polly Ho 

詩人 Poets：Bonnie Wai-Lee Kwong, Atom Cheung 

語言Language：English 

He who lives in harmony with himself lives in harmony with the universe. 

― Marcus Aurelius 

How often do we feel unrest with ourselves? In this imperfect world, our expectations cannot always be met. Our career goals do not go the way we want. Sometimes, the day doesn’t go as we want. Even the weather is unpredictable. Some people are stuck in the past and resentful of past events. Some people constantly worry about the future. Writing poetry is a way to begin a quest for peace with yourself. In this session, two poets will be sharing their writing journey and reading their poems. If you have poems related to this theme, you are welcome to read and share. 

About the poets: 

Bonnie Wai-Lee Kwong works in many mediums: poetry, music, theater, performance, video and software. Born in Wisconsin and raised in Hong Kong, she lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for two decades before returning to Hong Kong to care for her mother. She can still be spotted in California from time to time. The department of peace (Sixteen Rivers Press) is her third book of poetry, following The Quenching (Finishing Line Press) and ravel (Neopoesis Press). She has staged two plays: Liriope and There's No Stopping to My Thoughts. Renku.earth, an Elixir application she built for writing poetry collaboratively, was a runner-up for the 2024 Elixir Consultancy Prize from the consultancy firm Erlang Solutions. 

Atom Cheung is a poet based in Hong Kong. He is the voice of Atomic Heart, an intimate poetry podcast. He has recently completed two poetry manuscripts, Forty-One Frames (a collection of 67 poems written during a transformative five-year stay at the heritage building Mei Ho House) and Don’t Kick the Cat’s Stomach (a collection of 23 poems exploring diaspora, religious trauma, and caregiving). His latest works appeared in Where Else: An International Hong Kong Poetry Anthology and Canto Cutie. Learn more at www.atomcheung.com

Kubrick Poetry • March • Healing through Poetry

時間 Time：2025/3/23 (Sunday) 3:00pm-4:00pm 

地點 Venue：Auditorium (1/F) in Broadway Cinematheque 

主持 Moderator: Polly Ho 

詩人 Poets：Sadaff Habib, Florence Ng, Luisa Ternau 

語言Language：English 

The hustle world sometimes falls into silence. 

I feel the coldness amid the busy days and nights. 

A fleeting moment, gone in a blink. 

Not have yet the time to truly live. 

Meeting you, perhaps is the destiny of God. 

 Translation of lyrics from the song, The Water in the Dessert

 From the album The Dreamer by Khalil Fong 

How do we deal with our wounds when facing illness, passing of our loved one, battles of everyday living? The passing of singer and composer Khalil Fong and actress Barbie Hsu must have rung a bell in each of our heart. Why is life so fragile? 

 Poetry writing is a way for self-healing. It enables us to let go of our worries and reveal our deepest sorrow. The recurring theme in the poem unveil our unsounded worries and fear. In this special session, we invited three poets to read and share their journey of healing in writing poetry. 

About the poets: 

Sadaff Habib, born in Kenya and of Indian roots, Sadaff is a speaker, spoken word artist, and the author of My Womb, a collection of 108 poems on transformation, healing, and self-discovery. Through poetry and story telling, she inspires audience to embrace their wounds, find their voice, and honour every aspect of their personal journey. 

Florence Ng was born and lives in Hong Kong. She has co-founded Kubrick Poetry with Polly Ho and Waiyim Wong. Her first bilingual collection Wild Boar in Victoria Harbour was published by Kubrick in 2019. In 2021, she created the online poetry journal, Pause for Paws to celebrate people’s love for their poets and animals. 

Luisa Ternau studied literature at the University of Trieste in Italy and then gained an MA in modern English literature at King’s College London. She has enjoyed living and working in Europe, America and Asia. Luisa won a third prize in the Proverse Poetry Prize for Single Poems in 2016.

「詩畫同框」工作坊 — 海洋樂繽紛

 

給孩子一個寫詩繪畫的機會，透過寫詩去感受生活的美好。

 

寫詩，好似好浪漫，好想試吓寫詩，但又好似有點難度。其實寫詩可以好簡單、好生活化。

 

Triospin 致力推動生活美學 ，今次邀請了Kubrick Poetry Society的導師教小朋友畫海洋動物，並在畫上寫一首由小朋友自己創作的詩篇。

 

孩子們的詩句充滿靈性，想象力豐富，經常說出我們大人無法想到的美妙語言，不經意間打動了很多成年人麻木、遲鈍的心，請鼓勵你的孩子學習寫詩，感受生活的美好。

 

日期:8月19日(一)

時間:3:00-4:30pm

地點:Trio Spin Studio

早鳥:$160(13/8前報名)

費用:$200

對象:9至14歲學生

 

報名連結：https://forms.gle/64HxyYkt51ZT2kyY9

 

Kubrick Poetry • 七月 • 食物詩分享會

時間 Time：21/7/2024 (日) 3-4pm

地點 Venue：油麻地 Kubrick電影中心一樓講廳

主持 Moderator: Polly Ho、Atom Cheung

詩人 Poet：Sonia Leung、浮海、 施勁超、萍凡人、陳李才

語言Language：廣東話

報名 Registration: Link

 

有人用相片去懷緬過去，有人用文字去記載思念，有人用聲音去記錄一種體驗，也有人用香味去想起某一個人。如果用「食物」去記錄呢？回顧香港詩人梁秉鈞常以食物書寫城市﹐去年Kubrick Poetry 舉辦了一次香港食物誌徵稿比賽﹐獲得眾多投稿，最後選出七份得獎作品，得獎作品被製作成為名信片，七月詩會我們邀請得獎者和其他參加者一同分享他們的食物詩。

Kubrick Poetry • 十一月 • 「尋找你」之旅

 

時間 Time：26/11/2023 (日) 3-4pm

地點 Venue：油麻地 Kubrick電影中心一樓講廳

主持 Moderator: Polly Ho 

詩人 Poet：綠騎士，原名陳重馨

音樂家 Musician：Eugene Leung ( 梁宇正)

語言Language：中文和法文

報名 Registration: Link

 

旅行的意義是甚麼？一個人踏上旅途是一種怎樣的經歷？對於香港人來講，旅行是一種興趣，對於旅居異地的香港人來講，旅行則有另一層的意義，是回家，旅行還是歸根？是次讀詩會播放詩寓言短片和選詩朗讀環節。

 

綠騎士，原名陳重馨。 廣東省台山人，香港出生。畢業於香港大學，後赴巴黎國立美術學院及羅浮學院。居於法國，曾於歐亞美加舉行個展或群展。寫作：著有散文、小說集、詩畫冊和兒童故事等十多本。法文作品：詩畫集和圖文書共五本。近年致力於詩與畫的配合。電視：香港電台電視製作部：小說家族第二集「衣車」（短篇小說改編）華人作家紀錄片系列（二）之「法國的旅人」

香港食物誌得獎名單

香港食物誌徵稿比賽自開始以來，廣受大眾歡迎，我們一共收到四十名參賽者的投稿，箇中有很多優秀的作品，作為評審者，我們一邊讀詩，一邊想吃東西，很多作品令人驚奇，留下深刻的印象，由於票數相同，我們一共選了七首得獎作品，恭喜以下的得獎者！

香港食物誌徵稿比賽

— 紀念梁秉鈞去世10週年

 

香港人愛吃咖喱魚蛋、蛋撻、雞蛋仔、碗仔翅、咖喱牛腩⋯⋯ 每一樣食物滿載了香港人的情懷，移居外地的朋友回港也想吃一碗燒鵝瀨粉。香港著名詩人梁秉鈞常以食物書寫城市，一首〈帶一枚苦瓜旅行〉令人印象深刻，現KPS邀請大家書寫你最喜愛的香港食物，以廣東話入詩，得獎作品將配以插畫，製作成一系列明信片。

 

作品要求：以中文書寫，長度不超過10行，以廣東話入詩，每人限交4首。

得獎作品：6首

獎金：100元和明信片兩套

評審：劉偉成、Atom Cheung、Polly Ho、Florence Ng

截止日期：2023年8月7日

格式：繁體中文，word文檔，提交作品的檔案不要寫上姓名

 

歡迎大家踴躍參加，請把作品寄至kubrickpoems@gmail.com。

Making Space is launched!

We had the book launch of Making Space, published by Cart Noodles Press, at Kubrick Bookstore on 23^rd April, 2023. The event was packed with audience. Nicolette Wong, who is the curator and editor of the book, started the event. We had a stellar line of contributors who read from the book. They were Paola Caronni, Jennifer Eagleton, Lee Chi Leung（李智良）, Sonia FL Leung, Jocelyn Li and Marco Yan. After the reading, we shared our view on the perception of space and how possible or impossible to create space for writing in Hong Kong. The audience threw questions on our contributors. One of the questions is from Chris Song, who is the chief editor of Voice and Verse Magazine. He asked if the poem Lo Ting Visits Oscar by the Sea had something to do with Lo Ting came to visit its creator Oscar. Jocelyn was stunned to learn Lo Ting’s creator is also named Oscar. Polly Ho asked the book designer, Zac Choy, about his design concept on the book. He expressed those were the sentence strip that writers write on paper. He chooses the skin colour for the book cover to have a close touch on human. Some people interpreted the book cover as having censorship or it can be read as an erasure poetry. Many of us applauded at this beautiful book design and its meaning depends on the readers’ interpretation. 
 
The book, Making Space, come into life as a book project first and foremost initiated by Nicolette Wong from the English Department in CUHK. They would like to expand readership to the local community and seek collaboration with Kubrick Poetry Society which has 17 years promoting poetry reading and writing. KPS can be a window to reach the local readers. Our gratitude to Nicolette Wong for inviting us and who did all the editing work. We feel lucky to have Zac Choy as our book designer and special thanks for Eddie Tay for supporting the book project. 

(Photo credit to Felix Wong, Paul Wan and Florence Ng)

Kubrick Poetry • April • Making Space

時間 Time: 23/4/2023 (Sunday) 3:00pm-4:30pm

地點 Venue: 油麻地Kubrick@電影中心一樓講廳

                      Kubrick@1/F Broadway Cinematheque, Yau Mai Tei

主持 Moderators: Polly Ho and Atom Cheung

嘉賓 Guest speakers: Paola Caronni, Zac Choy, Jennifer Eagleton, Lee Chi Leung (李智良), Sonia FL Leung, Jocelyn Li, Nicolette Wong, Macro Yan

語言Languages: English and Cantonese

報名 Registration: https://forms.gle/jBvqBm9ZGqh6s7To6

 

 

Kubrick Poetry Society invites you to the launch of Making Space: A Collection of Writing and Art, edited by Nicolette Wong with support from KPS and published by Cart Noodles Press (CUHK). The event will feature readings by contributors and a discussion about the book. This event is free and open to the public. 

Making Space: A Collection of Writing and Art features prose, poetry and artwork that explore how we make space in our lives in Hong Kong. How do we redefine the distance between the city, others, and ourselves? How does the quest for personal space and/or identities manifest in our creative practices? 

Making Space is here!

Our first book project initiated by the English department from CUHK, edited by Nicolette Wong, is here. The contributors of the book explore the space between people, space in our memory lane, space in buildings, the tangible and intangible space.  You can read the prefaces and excerpts or order a copy here: https://cup.cuhk.edu.hk/MakingSpace 

 

We are grateful for all the contributors who have submitted work to us. Our special thanks goes to Nicolette Wong who oversaw the whole book-making process, to Eddie Tay who supports this project from beginning to end. Lastly, we are lucky to have Zac Choy to design the book for us! What a beautiful and modern book cover!  

If you would like to write a review for Making Space, you can contact Polly Ho(kubrickpoems@gmail.com) or Nicolette Wong(nicolettewong@cuhk.edu.hk) for a review copy. 

Kubrick Poetry • March • Promised Lands

 

時間 Time：17/3/2023 (Friday) 7-8pm

地點 Venue：Yaumatei Kubrick Ministore (G/F)

主持 Moderator: Polly Ho 

詩人 Poet：Gili Haimovich 

語言Language：English 

登記Registration: Here

 

The desert is wide, wild, wasted, Moses,
a landscape so widely open that its inaccessible,
no nooks for havens of rest
for hiding,
for intimacy.

-       The Promised Wasteland 

When we meet in a foreign city, we feel destined to meet one another. When we use the language of that city, we are speaking of a foreign language. All these experiences in a new city using a new language will definitely bring cultural shock. Gili Haimovich has moved home from Canada back to Israel, and travels frequently for poetry festivals. She has penned down the experience into poetry, Promised Lands, which documents her poetry in Hebrew and English, and between cultural crosscurrents. The “lands” of the title do not simply refer to physical barriers between cultures but spheres of the soul guided by language and culture.

 

“There is her origin and cultural/spiritual heritage, her place and everyday life, her travels to distant lands and rich geography, her travels to her inner world and all that is so craftily and beautifully intertwined like peptides on the human DNA.” This statement, taken from a review at fekt.org, reflects not only upon the book itself but upon the global human heritage. 

Gili Haimovich is a prizewinning bilingual Israeli poet with a Canadian background. She is the author of ten poetry books, four in English and six in Hebrew as well as a multilingual book of her poem ‘Note’. She was awarded prizes for best foreign poet at the international Italian poetry competitions I colori dell'anima (2020) and Ossi di Seppia (2019), a grant for excellency by the Ministry of Culture of Israel (2015), a third-prize winner of Proverse Poetry Competition (2016), a fellowship residency at the International Writers’ Workshop Hong Kong (2021) and more. Her poems are translated into 33 languages and featured worldwide in numerous anthologies and journals.