Among the thirteen tales

(Adam Cheung)

We were very grateful to have Xu Xi drop by, amidst her busy schedule, to talk with us in our December session of Kubrick Poetry. It was a meeting that we had long been looking forward to. Xu Xi started by talking about how she was able to keep writing, early in her career, while holding key positions in the corporate business world. She acknowledges the challenge of being a writer in a very commercialized and business-oriented Hong Kong, and so to overcome these challenges and to completely focus on her writing, she moved away. She shared about her experience doing writing retreats in places like Florida and Norway. She also shared her insights in writing about the Chinese experience using the English language, while praising the works of Maxine Hong Kingston as her source of inspiration.

Then we came to discuss her new book. Xu Xi read excerpts from the stories “Space” and “Lady Day”. We agreed that the stories in this collection have a tendency to allow readers a lot of space to imagine and to fill in the untold stories implied in the narratives. We were also treated to some very vivid accounts of the anecdotes that Xu Xi’s aunt had told her when she was a child, and we learned how those stories have inspired her to write the stories that she writes today.

Throughout our conversation, Xu Xi gave us the impression that the writing of this newest book had been a very enjoyable process for her. The audience was also delighted by her ability to narrate her personal experience so animatedly. This kind of liveliness and attention to details are qualities that really shine in her short story collection.

(photos by Paul Wan)

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)

Kubrick Poetry •December• ACCESS: Thirteen Tales

時間 Time：2011/12/18 (Sunday) 5:00pm-6:00pm
地點 Venue：油麻地 Kubrick (next to Broadway Cinemathèque, 3 Public Square St.)
主持 Moderators：Polly Ho, Florence Ng & Adam Cheung
嘉賓 Guest：Xu Xi

What do we think we desire? What do we truly desire? Xu Xi explores these questions in her latest fiction collection, ACCESS: Thirteen Tales, recently published by Signal 8 Press. On December 18th, Xu Xi joins us at Kubrick Poetry to talk about her newest work and about matters concerning Hong Kong and Asian literature. Don’t miss this opportunity to meet the writer whom The New York Times once named “a pioneer writer from Asia in English.”

Xu Xi is the author of nine books of fiction and essays, and editor of three anthologies of Hong Kong literature in English.She is also the Writer-in-Residence and Programme Leader of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing programme at City University. www.xuxiwriter.com

Philosopher King

(By Adam Cheung)

Kubrick Poetry’s October session was held at Book Attic in Central, where we sat down with Ronnie Lee, the philosopher/writer/poet.

Ronnie narrated his literary journey from a scholarly, philosophical perspective. He talked about how he had to go through an extensive period of reading, studying, and just immersing himself in the many philosophical theories before he could clearly express his ideas on topics like the making of the universe, religion, human behavior, and love. He discussed the challenges he has experienced in self-publishing, and he talked about the lack of response to the ideas he has articulated at the philosophical debates he has attended in Hong Kong. Ronnie gave a detailed explanation for the silent responses.

Ronnie shared a poem about the notion of “free will” and his perspective of it. We then went on to explore Ronnie’s religious convictions regarding his idea of God’s Will, and the heavy responsibilities that he has taken on as he sees his life as a mission to speak the Truth. He talked about how this mission motivates him to contemplate many social issues and to keep on writing.

Ronnie also shared what could be called a love poem, which he wrote many years ago, a piece of work precedes his many philosophical books. The audience was deeply taken by Ronnie’s uncompromising approach in exploring the depths of life and matters beyond life.

Kubrick Poetry •November• Taiwan and Turkey

時間 Time：2011/11/12 (Saturday) 3:00pm-4:00pm

地點 Venue：油麻地 Kubrick (next to Broadway Cinemathèque, 3 Public Square St.)

主持 Moderators：Polly Ho, Florence Ng, Wong Wai Yim & Adam Cheung

語言 Language: English & Mandarin

詩人 Poet： Lo Chih Chen/ 羅智成 (Taiwan), Bejan Matur/ 白江•馬突爾 (Turkey)

羅智成 (台灣)

Born in Taipei, Lo Chih Cheng (Luo Zhicheng) graduated from the Department of Philosophy of National Taiwan University and later completed course work in the doctoral program. Active in the media, including television and broadcasting, he also served some official positions such as Commissioner of the Department of Information of Taipei city government and Director of Kwang Hua Information and Cultural Center (Hong Kong).

Lo published his first book of poems, which he not only self-financed but also designed and illustrated, in 1975. Since then he has published more than ten books of poetry. Lo’s literary works are famous for their philosophical profoundness, imaginative imagery, lyrical syntax and original insight. Already an established poet in the 1970s, he has continued to influence poets of a younger generation.

羅智成1955年生於台北。台灣大學哲學系畢業。美國威斯康辛大學東亞所碩士、博士班肄業。 曾任報社副總編輯、電台台長、雜誌及出版社發行人，也擔任過台北市政府新聞處處長、香港光華中心主任。作品以詩、散文和遊記為主；風格強烈，知性、感性兼具，以精確、細膩的語法著稱，以觀察力和想像力見長，對新一代詩人有極大的影響力。主要出版作品有：詩集《畫冊》、《光之書》、《傾斜之書》等。

Bejan Matur(Turkey)

Bejan Matur was born of an Alevi Kurdish family on 14 September 1968 in the ancient Hittite

city of Marash in Southeast Turkey. She studied Law at Ankara University, but has never

practiced. In her university years, her poetry was published in several literary periodicals.

Reviewers found her poetry ‘dark and mystic’.

Her first book, Rüzgar Dolu Konaklar (Winds Howl Through the Mansions) published in 1996 won several literary prizes. Her following books, Tanrı Görmesin Harflerimi (God Must Not See The Letter of My Script) in 1999. Her poetry has been translated up to 17 languages. Her book İbrahim’in Beni Terketmesi (Leaving of Abraham), published in March 2008, was considered by the critics to be her best book ever, creating a personal ontology and a personal mythology inspired by thousands of years of Sufi Tradition.

白江•馬突爾，1968年9月14日生於位於土耳其東南西臺古城馬拉什的一個阿勒維•庫爾德族家庭。曾在安哥 拉大學修讀法律，但從未執業。求學期間曾在多本文學期刊發表詩作。她的詩歌被評為『黑暗和神秘』。1996年出版的第一本專輯《嘯嘯風聲響徹大宅》曾獲得多個文學獎。她的詩歌曾被翻譯成十七種語言。2008年三月出版的《阿伯拉罕的告別》被評論家喻為是馬突爾最優秀的作品，靈感來自數千年來的Sufi傳統，並成功地創造出自我的本體和個人的神話。

It is part of the International Poetry Nights 2011

此乃國際詩歌之夜2011的活動之一

Kubrick Poetry •October• Philosopher King

時間 Time：2011/10/29 (Saturday) 6:00pm-7:00pm

地點 Venue： Book Attic, 2 Elgin Street, Central

主持 Moderators：Polly Ho & Adam Cheung

詩人 Poet：Ronnie Lee Ka Ching

Ronnie was born in Hong Kong. He is a Chinese poet and philosopher who is achieving his enlightenment through truth, knowledge, and reason. From his Western education, he has developed his style of poetry to incorporate modern philosophy into a foundation for universal understanding.

He tries to see the justice, meaning, and wisdom that are at the core of each of his experiences in this world, sharing his observations with others through his unique poetic words and images. Lee has been writing poetry and philosophy for over nine years. He has self-published 9 books at Outskirts Press: The Book of Life, the Meaning of Life, the Philosopher of Life, Poems of Life, the Genius of the Metropolis, the Philosopher King, etc. He is currently working on his 11th book.

*You are welcome to bring your own creation and share with us.

Kubrick Poetry •September• Strolling

時間 Time：2011/9/23 (Friday) 7:00pm-8:00pm

地點 Venue： Book Attic, 2 Elgin Street, Central

主持 Moderators：Polly Ho & Adam Cheung

詩人 Poet：宋子江　Chris Song Zijiang

宋子江，廣東人，完成澳門大學文學碩士學位， 曾出版兩本詩集《拭擦暗黲的天空》和《千行》。詩歌曾發表在國內，港澳，美國，澳洲，菲律賓和瑞典。現為澳門故事協會執行會長，於嶺南大學工作。

Chris Song Zijiang, a native of Guangdong Province, completed a MA degree in Literature at the University of Macau. Published two poetry collections “wiping the dim sky” and “Strolling”. His works has been seen in China, Macau, Hong Kong, America, Australia, the Philippines and Sweden. He is now the acting director of ASM and working in Lingnan University.

* You are welcome to bring your work to read and share, in any languages.