Poster of Humanity vs Virus

 

Poetry Recitals: Humanity vs Virus

Date: 2nd January 2021 (Saturday)

Time: 2:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m.

Venue: Activity Room 1, G/F,  Hong Kong Central Library

Guests: Prof. Birgit BUNZEL LINDER, Dr. Jason Eng Hun Lee, Dr. Elbert Siu Ping LEE

Moderator: Ms. Polly Ho Sai-fung

Live broadcast: https://www.hkpl.gov.hk/en/extension-activities/hklf/hklf13/event-detail/173325

To live harmoniously with nature is one of the most important principles for the survival of our world. The present outbreak of the Coronvid-19 is a dark reminder of having lost this harmony. This pneumonia-like illness evokes deep-seated fears in us: we fear what we don’t know; our anxiety grows when even the experts feel helpless; and we feel even more frightened when everyone around us is equally afraid. Fear can bring about the best and the worst in us. In the wake of the new coronavirus, nature sends us a very clear message. We need to respect animals and there is a very strict boundary of what we should eat and what we shouldn’t.

Many of us who have a belief in something as guiding principle in life, have answers to existential questions and perhaps even to questions about the afterlife. But we rarely have a common understanding about the suffering we bring on ourselves and each other. This present crisis poses questions to our humanity and our humanism. It addresses the bigger questions of life. Can we afford to forget how vulnerable life is? Have we forgotten how everything works together in a balanced circle of life? Do we approach life with too much careless pride, shortsighted decadent and wasteful lifestyles? What are the boundaries between humans and animals? How do we fight epidemic illnesses together? Will we focus on the animal origin or laboratory failure of this virus outbreak, or shouldn’t we rather spend time contemplating our destructive capability to bring disasters upon ourselves and our neighbors.

Poets

Jason Eng Hun Lee is a Lecturer in English and Comparative Literature at Hong Kong Baptist University, where he teaches on globalization studies, postcolonial and diasporic Asian writing, contemporary poetry, and Shakespeare in a global context. His articles, poetry and reviews have been published in Textual Practice, Envoi, Acumen, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Asia Literary Review, Oxford Review, Hong Kong Review of Books, Cha: An Asian Literary Journaland The Best New British and Irish Poets 2016. His poetry collection Beds in the East(Eyewear Press, 2019) was a finalist for the HKU Poetry Prize (2010) and Melita Hume Poetry Prize (2012). He is a Book Reviews Editor for the journal Postcolonial Text. He holds a Ph.D. from The University of Hong Kong and a B.A. from The University of Leeds.  

Birgit Bunzel Linder was educated in Germany and in the United States. She received her degrees in Sinology, Dutch Literature, and Political Science from the University of Cologne, Germany, and in Chinese Literature and German Literature from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and Beijing University. Her teaching and research interests are in the areas of Madness in Literature, Chinese literature, comparative literature, Medical Humanities, Gothic cultures, and translation studies. Presently, she is Associate Professor for Comparative Literature and Translation Studies at Lingnan University, Hong Kong. In addition to academic publications, she has also published poetry in several international journals and has two poetry collections, Shadows in Deferment(2013) and Bliss of Bewilderment (2017). Her hobbies include writing, Chinese ink and watercolor painting, and photography. 

Elbert Siu Ping Lee was born and raised in Hong Kong. His poems can be found in the collection Rain on the Pacific Coast, published by Proverse Hong Kong, 2013. More recent works of his appear in Quixotica–Poetry collection commemorating the 400th death anniversary of  Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, the author of Don Quixote, Chameleon Press, 2016, and also in Twin Cities, Voice and Verse Poetry Magazine, 2017. Other poems of his have appeared in Asian Cha, Poetry Macao, Muse Magazine, and in the anthology Fifty/Fifty: A new anthology of Hong Kong writingand Hong Kong Poems, an English-German anthology.He teaches psychology and is a member of the adjunct faculty of Upper Iowa University, Hong Kong Center. His current research interests are in depth psychology and spirituality. His is also a member of the League of Canadian Poets.

Moderator

Polly Ho Sai Fung graduated from the University of Hong Kong majoring in Psychology. She has been devoting her time organizing poetry readings at Kubrick Poetry since 2007. She feels privileged to have encountered so many talented local and international poets. She has twice successfully secured the Year Grant from the Arts Development Council for Kubrick Poetry Society (2010-2011, 2013-2014).  She teaches English at a primary school. 

Result of Artwork Open Call

The Artwork Open Call was ended on the last day of August last year. The winners are Yulia Wong （黃芷柔）, Elaine Wong （黃淑賢）and Lee Boon Ying （李本瀅）. Congratulations to the winners! 

poem 1

poem 2

poem 3

The cards are printed and are available in Kubrick bookstore in Yaumetai starting on 3rd February, 2020. Each card is available at $38. One set is $100. If you wish to purchase the card, you can contact Polly Ho at kubrickpoems@gmail.com.

Kubrick Poetry • 香港人該用咩語言寫詩?

時間Time：2019/12/22 (Sunday) 4:00pm-5:00pm

地點Venue：油麻地Kubrick電影中心一樓講廳

主持Moderator: Polly Ho 

詩人Poet：Florence Ng 吳智欣

語言Language：廣東話及英文(Cantonese and English when necessary)

在香港長大的你，大概已經習慣了混雜的語境，有人說是不中不英，有人會說是中英並重，又或是港式什麼的。你平日會用什麼語言寫Whatsapp或面書？如果有天你要寫詩或做創意寫作呢，你會用什麼語言？為什麼？香港有人以英語寫詩，這兩三年間我也這樣做，詩集的中文版都是應出版社要求後補的。礙於天資，無論是用英文原創還是中文補作，過程都是嘔心瀝血。誠邀你前來討論，並一同發掘自己獨特的語言來創作。

吳智欣生於香港。她與朋友成立Kubrick Poetry 詩會，也在他們的協助下做了個人手作詩集《鞋子集》。她曾獲青年文學獎並在不同媒介發表作品。2019年她的第一本英中詩集《維多利亞港的野豬》由kubrick出版。

I remember when I was studying French in France, whenever my classmates from mainland China or other Asian countries saw me using English to write emails or messages, they would look at me in disbelief and ask me questions. And I used to tell them that it was natural and we started learning English in kindergarten. Growing up in Hong Kong, many of us have taken using English (or Cantonese mingled with English) in our daily lives for granted. Some locals in Hong Kong, including me, have even chosen English for creative writing for different reasons. When you decide to express yourself in the form of literature you need to first decide on the language to use, and when you have made up your mind on that you will need to learn to make the best of that language. But how does it feel to express your deepest feelings in a second language? Is it possible? How will it going to be different from using your native language(s)? What if you play with them? This is what I have experimented when writing my book and I invite you to come and discuss and experiment with me together. 

Florence Ng has lived in Hong Kong since her birth. She has co-founded Kubrick Poetry with friends. With their help, she has self-published a poetry book called Book of Shoes(《鞋子集》). She has won Youth Literary Awards and her poems have appeared in different publications. Her first bilingual collection Wild Boar in Victoria Harbour was published by Kubrick in 2019. 

Kubrick Poetry • Who can stop you from writing what you want?

時間Time：2019/10/6 (Sunday) 4:00pm-5:00pm

地點Venue：油麻地Kubrick電影中心一樓講廳

主持Moderator: Polly Ho 

詩人Poet：Aušra Kaziliūnaitė (Lithuania)

語言Language：English

Lithuania is a country located in the Southeastern shores of the Baltic sea. We know little of this country, the food and the culture scene there. What will it to be like in Lithuania? Can people embrace freedom of expression? We have the first and young poet from Lithuania, Aušra Kaziliūnaitė, who is going to read with us her poem addressing freedom and personal issue. 

Aušra Kaziliūnaitė (poet, writer, performance artist, journalist; Lithuania)is an author of four books of poetry. Last year her selected poems, The Moon is a Pill(Parthian Books, 2018) was published in English. The book was listed among the five best works of Baltic literature recently translated into English by literature expert Jayde Will. Several of Kaziliūnaitė'spoems appeared in  How the Earth Carries Us: New Lithuanian Poets (Lithuanian Culture Institute, 2017)andNew Baltic Poetry Anthology (Parthian Books, 2018). Hertexts have been translated into many other languages as well. Aušra Kaziliūnaitė has received numerous Lithuanian national awards including the Young Artist Prize from the Ministry of Culture (2016). She was invited to the International Writing Program 2018 (IWP) in the USA and participated courtsey of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Aušra is the Vice Chair of the Lithuanian Writers’ Union and main program curator and coordinator of the literature festival and book fair Books’ Weekend in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Partner

Two poems for download

Our September event is cancelled. Our poet Bengt Berg is so kind to allow us to download two of his poems. The download is valid for one month. It will be closed on 7th October. 

Download has been closed. 

Kubrick Poetry • September • Nordic Landscape

活動取消了。

The event is cancelled! 

時間Time：2019/9/10 (Tuesday) 7:00pm-8:00pm

地點Venue：油麻地Kubrick電影中心一樓講廳

主持Moderator: Polly Ho 

詩人Poet：Bengt Berg(Sweden)

語言Language：English

Have you ever seen the Nordic light? Have you seen the midnight sun? These are scenery that is possible to be seen in Sweden and Norway. We have the first Swedish poet, Bengt Berg, visiting Hong Kong. He will read with us poems describing the beautiful and unique landscape in the Northern land. 

Bengt Berg’s poems are full of humor and warmth, and characterized by sharp insights into the oddities of people and situations. With time he has become more and more aware of form — without sacrificing other merits — and his poems appear at times to have been written by an Eastern master.”

Bengt Berg was born in 1946 in Torsby, Värmland, Sweden. He studied German and Nordic languages & Literary and Art studies at Uppsala University. He worked as a freelance writer and translator since 1975. Berg was a Member of the Swedish Parliament from 2010 to 2014. Since 1990, Bengt has operated the publishing house, Heidruns Förlag in his home village Fensbol near Torsby in the Province of Värmland. 

Bengt Berg’s debut poetry collection, Where the Dream Ends, appeared in1974; and since then he has written more than 35 books, mostly poetry. His poems have been translated into Nordic languages, as well as Arabian, Hebrew, English, German, Dutch, Greek, Romanian, Spanish, Turkish, Polish, Russian, Latvian, Vietnamese, Bangla, Hindi and Malayalam. In 2014, he published his Collected Poems, Dikter genom 40 år.