Poetry in the Worst/Best of Time

Two cities, so distant yet never so close. The current literature scene in Hong Kong and Minsk shares many similarities. The challenges, the threats, and at the same time, the inspiration, the obligation and the opportunities. In a series of three online talks, authors from Hong Kong and Minsk discuss their creative process in times of uncertainty. How their works react to their society and time? How they communicate with their audiences, and create a readers’ community even during difficult times?

Ii. poetry in the Worst/Best of Time

The Speakers:

©Tang Siu Wa

TANG Siu Wa poet, essayist, is the author of two poetry collections, A Bottle Unmoved and The Opposite of Sounds, the prose works A Motley of Banalities and Just Like Nothing Happens, and a collection of interviews Asking Directions from the People. She is also the editor of the collections Wait and See: Collected Works of Six New Hong Kong Writers, The Tomb of Film, and The Same Darkness Befalls Dawn: Hong Kong June Fourth Poetry.

In addition, Tang Siu-wa is also known for her work as the founding editor of the literary magazine Fleurs des lettres and as a co-founder of the House of Hong Kong Literature. A literary organizer and human rights activist, she teaches creative writing at various Hong Kong institutions, and contributes columns and criticism to a variety of local media.

© Hanna Komar

Hanna Komar is an award-winning poet and translator, who was born in Baranavichy in 1989 and lives in Minsk. She has published two poetry collections (Fear of Heights in Belarusian and a bilingual collection Recycled) and is a co-author of a Charles Bukowski’s poetry collection in Belarusian. Hanna writes in Belarusian and translates her texts into English.

Her poetry has been translated into Polish, Ukranian, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Czech and English.

She is a finalist and laureate of several independent literary awards, such as Maksim Bahdanovich Debut Award for the Best First Book in Translation and first poetry book in Belarusian, Natallia Arsenneva National Book Prize among others. Together with Dmitry Strotsev, she was awarded the 2020 Norwegian Authors Union Freedom of Speech Award. She is a member of the independent Belarusian Writers Union and PEN Belarus.

Moderator:

©Jacqueline Leung

Jacqueline Leung is a writer and translator from Hong Kong. She is an editor-at-large for Asymptote and translations editor for Cicada. Her work has appeared in ArtAsiaPacific, the Asian Review of Books, Cha, and Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine. She holds an MA in English from University College London and a BA (First Honors) from the University of Hong Kong.