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.