New updates on 5 Cha contributors: Xu Xi, Kirpal Singh, Ira Sukrungruang, Eleanor Goodman and Mia Ayumi Malhotra

Xu Xi, Kirpal Singh and Ira Sukrungruang 

Writers from all over the world are coming to Hong Kong for the City University MFA summer residency. If you are in the city this month (21-28 July), make sure to come to hear the readings and lectures. Speakers include Cha contributors Xu Xi (director of the CityU MFA), Kirpal Singh and Ira Sukrungruang. Full details here.

|| Xu Xi's creative non-fiction was published in issue #6 of Cha.

|| Kirpal Singh contributed a book review to issue #9 of Cha.

||  Ira Sukrungruang's poetry has been published in issue #9 of Cha.  

*****

Eleanor Goodman

In the new issue of Cerise Press, Eleanor Goodman reviews Derek Mong's Other Romes.  

|| Eleanor Goodman's poetry and translation were published inIssue 14 of Cha.

*****

Mia Ayumi Malhotra

Two poems by Mia Ayumi Malhotra, "He shows the child" and "A History of Grandmother", are published in the Winter 2012 issue of diode. Try filling in the blanks: I wishes to write about an important person in her life but cannot do so without saying ________ or ________. 

|| Mia Ayumi Malhotra's poetry was published in issue #15 of Cha. 



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New books by Madeleine Marie Slavick and Leung Ping-kwan

Madeleine Marie Slavick's Fifty Stories Fifty Images

[click the image to enlarge]

Fifty Stories Fifty Images, Madeleine Marie Slavick's new book published by MCCM Creations, is a collection of prose and photography. It presents insects and high rises, dentists and trees, laughter and abstractions, and the poetry, poverty and generosity of Madeleine's beloved city, Hong Kong. In late April and the first half of May, Madeleine will be appearing at several book events. Please click on the image above to see the dates and venues. 

Madeleine is a writer and photographer. She has lived in Hong Kong for almost twenty-five years, longer than anywhere else. Her books include Something Beautiful Might Happen,  (reviewed by Alice Tsay in Cha), My Favourite Thing, delicate access (reviewed by Tammy Ho in Asian Review of Books) and Round -- Poems and Photographs of Asia. She writes and photographs everyday on her blog, Touching What I Love.  

Madeleine Marie Slavick's creative non-fiction was published in Issue #14 of Cha. She also contributed a book review to Issue #16 of the journal. 

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Leung Ping-kwan's En ces jours instables

[see the poster here]

Date and time: Tuesday 24 April; 1830-20:00 | Location: Parenthèses, 2/F Duke of Wellington House, 14-24 Wellington Street, Central 

You are cordially invited to attend the book launch and reading of Leung Ping-kwan's new poetry book En ces jours instables, a collection of eighteeen Chinese-French poems published by MCCM Creations in April 2012. Poetry readings in French and Chinese with Ping-kwan and the French translator Camille Loivier.

Ping-kwan is Hong Kong's leading poet and he teaches creative writing, literature and film studies at the Lingnan University in Hong Kong. He has published numerous poetry books and short stories. Many of his creative writings are translated into French, including Iles et continents (Gallimard, 2001) and a collection of poetry De çi de là des choses (Editions You-feng, 2006) translated by Annie Curien. 

Leung Ping-Kwan's poetry was published in issue #1 of Cha. His Amblings was reviewed in Issue #15 of the journal.


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Kate Rogers's City of Stairs

The March 2012 Hong Kong Poetry OutLoud event will be devoted to a book launch: the debut of Canadian poet Kate Rogers's second collection, City of Stairs, courtesy of Haven Books and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.

For this extra-special evening Outloud will take place in the FRINGE CLUB STUDIO THEATRE, 8pm, Wednesday 7th March 2012, and Viki Holmes will be the MC. The first set will feature a selection of special guest readers sharing a reprise from Not A Muse: The Inner Lives of Women, with Kate reading in the second set, and an open-mic will grace the evening in the third set. If you'd like to read in the open mic section of the evening, please let us know at PoetryOutloud@gmail.com

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ABOUT CITY OF STAIRS

When the subject calls for it, Rogers’ writing can be delicately wistful, potently visceral, ecstatic, sensuous, or richly contemplative. The many striking, insightful portraits of strong women show an equal adeptness with the contemporary and the mythic – and their overlaps. This book is a treasury, and a real tour de force.

-Allan Briesmaster, poet and editor Quattro Press; co-founder Word Stage Reading Series, Toronto, Canada

ABOUT KATE ROGERS

Canadian poet and educator Kate Rogers has had poetry, essays and reviews published in anthologies and literary magazines in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada and the UK. She has been short-listed twice for the Winston Collins Best Canadian Poem Prize by Toronto literary journal Descant. Her work has appeared in Fifty-Fifty: New Hong Kong Writing; The Asia Literary Review, Dimsum; Pressed; Crave it; Many Mountains Moving; Dream Catcher; The New Quarterly, Contemporary Verse II, Canadian Women's Studies, The Mad Woman in the Academy and Orbis International. She has traveled extensively in Asia and in Southern Africa. A bilingual collection of her essays about conservation in Taiwan, The Swallows' Return, was published in 2006.

Her first collection of poetry, Painting the Borrowed House, debuted in Hong Kong in 2008 with Proverse Publishing. Not A Muse: the Inner Lives of Women, co-edited by Viki Holmes and Kate Rogers; Haven Books; appeared in 2009.

• Kate Rogers' poetry was published in issue#9 of Cha and her review of Todd Swift's and Chen Ching-In's poetry collections was published in issue#8 of the journal.
• Viki Holmes's poetry was published in issue#3 of Cha and her review of Gillian Sze's Fish Bones was published in issue#8 of the journal.

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Kate Rogers's City of Stairs

The March 2012 Hong Kong Poetry OutLoud event will be devoted to a book launch: the debut of Canadian poet Kate Rogers's second collection, City of Stairs, courtesy of Haven Books and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.

For this extra-special evening Outloud will take place in the FRINGE CLUB STUDIO THEATRE, 8pm, Wednesday 7th March 2012, and Viki Holmes will be the MC. The first set will feature a selection of special guest readers sharing a reprise from Not A Muse: The Inner Lives of Women, with Kate reading in the second set, and an open-mic will grace the evening in the third set. If you'd like to read in the open mic section of the evening, please let us know at PoetryOutloud@gmail.com

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ABOUT CITY OF STAIRS

When the subject calls for it, Rogers’ writing can be delicately wistful, potently visceral, ecstatic, sensuous, or richly contemplative. The many striking, insightful portraits of strong women show an equal adeptness with the contemporary and the mythic – and their overlaps. This book is a treasury, and a real tour de force.

-Allan Briesmaster, poet and editor Quattro Press; co-founder Word Stage Reading Series, Toronto, Canada

ABOUT KATE ROGERS

Canadian poet and educator Kate Rogers has had poetry, essays and reviews published in anthologies and literary magazines in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada and the UK. She has been short-listed twice for the Winston Collins Best Canadian Poem Prize by Toronto literary journal Descant. Her work has appeared in Fifty-Fifty: New Hong Kong Writing; The Asia Literary Review, Dimsum; Pressed; Crave it; Many Mountains Moving; Dream Catcher; The New Quarterly, Contemporary Verse II, Canadian Women's Studies, The Mad Woman in the Academy and Orbis International. She has traveled extensively in Asia and in Southern Africa. A bilingual collection of her essays about conservation in Taiwan, The Swallows' Return, was published in 2006.

Her first collection of poetry, Painting the Borrowed House, debuted in Hong Kong in 2008 with Proverse Publishing. Not A Muse: the Inner Lives of Women, co-edited by Viki Holmes and Kate Rogers; Haven Books; appeared in 2009.

• Kate Rogers' poetry was published in issue#9 of Cha and her review of Todd Swift's and Chen Ching-In's poetry collections was published in issue#8 of the journal.
• Viki Holmes's poetry was published in issue#3 of Cha and her review of Gillian Sze's Fish Bones was published in issue#8 of the journal.

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Poetry OutLoud Hong Kong | Thursday 3 November 2011

[click the poster to enlarge]

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DATE: 3 Nov 2011 (Thursday)

TIME: 8:00pm – 9:30pm

VENUE: Fotogalarie, 2/F, Fringe Club, 2nd Lower Albert Road, Central

Host: Mr. David McKirdy (Poetry OutLoud)

Reciters: 

• All  visiting writers (from Hong Kong Baptist University's International Writers Workshop) 
• Local writers (from Poetry OutLoud Hong Kong)

Cha contributors Zhai Yaoming (visiting writer) Ms. Zhai Yongming is not able to come to Hong Kong  and Arthur Leung (local writer), amongst others, will read.

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Xi Chuan at the International Poetry Nights in Hong Kong | 10-13 November

Xi Chuan, whose poetry was published in "The China Issue" of Cha (translated from the Chinese by Lucas Klein), will be reading at the International Poetry Nights in Hong Kong (November 10-13, 2011).

Xi Chuan will be joining nine other Chinese-language poets from the Mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong as well as ten international poets, including Carolyn D. Wright, Tomaž Šalamun and Paul Muldoon. (See the full list of invited Chinese and international poets here.)

Visit the International Poetry Nights in Hong Kong website for the programme, registration and further details.

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Notes on the Mosquitoes, run by Lucas, has more information about Xi Chuan's poetry and Chinese poetry in English translation. Lucas will be guest editing "The Ancient Asia Issue" of Cha in 2013.

Poetry OutLoud features Mary-Jane Newton | Wednesday 4th May 2011

[click image to enlarge]

Mary-Jane Newton's new poetry collection Of Symbols Misused will feature, and there will also be an open mic session. Please email PoetryOutloud@gmail.com if you'd like a slot. Gauri Naurain will MC.

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Author's bio: Mary-Jane Newton was born in India and grew up in Germany. She is the author of a collection of poetry, Of Symbols Misused (Proverse Hong Kong, 2011) and her work has been published in numerous literary journals and anthologies internationally. She is an Editor at Oxford University Press and currently resides in Hong Kong with her husband and daughter.
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Mary-Jane Newton's poetry and reviews were published in Issue 13 of Cha.
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Poetry Jam | Hong Kong International Literary Festival | Friday 11 March

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Poetry doesn't get better than this!

"Visiting and local poets read their own and others' work in a sticky, noisy and unpredictable mix, ring-mistressed by Viki Holmes. Ticket price includes a $30 drinks voucher redeemable at the door."

Friday, 11 March 2011

Poetry Jam

19:30 - 21:30

Fringe Club

This Friday, if you are in Hong Kong, you should attend Poetry Jam, an evening of poetry organised by Poetry OutLoud Hong Kong, hosted by Viki Holmes. The event is part of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2011. Eight Cha contributors will be reading -- click the images below to read their works in Cha.

Other participating poets include Akin Jeje, Gillian Bickley, Jason Polley, Nashua Gallagher, and more. 

Mary-Jane Newton's Of Symbols Misused

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Cha contributor Mary-Jane Newton's first poetry collection Of Symbols Misused will be launched at the Proverse Hong Kong event on 9 March. Would you like to join?

There are still a few tickets left for the independent Proverse event in the week of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival (8-18 March 2011). Do come along to enjoy a pleasant and interesting evening with varied and stunning new work presented for the first time. Advance booking essential.

Event name: Chocolate's Brown Study in the Bag.

Date: Wednesday 9 March 2011.

Venue: Blue Room, Helena May, 35 Garden Road, Central Hong Kong.

Time: 7.00-9.00pm

Price: HKD300 (includes canapés served from 7.00-7.30pm).

The venue requires that all who attend are at least 18 years old.

Purchase tickets by a) visiting www.cityline.com.hk (Click on the Literary Festival logo and then search the event name, "Chocolate's Brown Study in the Bag"),

OR b) at branches of Parsons Music Shop

OR c) call 2111 5333.

There is a small handling fee: Internet and Parsons Music, HKD5.00; Telephone booking hotline, HKD10.00. NB If you book by internet, they can post the tickets to you. (Not sure if there is an extra charge for this.)

Enquiries from Proverse at: Tel: 2259-3456.

More information at Proverse Hong Kong and the Hong Kong International Festival. Limited places. Just a few left.

The evening will begin with book-signing and canapés. Then we will sit to hear Cha Contributor, Mary-Jane Newton (hopefully in person) read a few poems from her extra-ordinary new book, Of Symbols Misused. Then prize-winning dramatist and lyricist Rupert Chan will talk about his toy poodle Chocolate's autobiography and other animals in literature. Moderated by Gillian Bickley. Following this, there will be an exciting announcement. Co-founder of the Proverse Prize for unpublished writing, Verner Bickley will announce the Winner(s) in the 2010 competition for the Proverse Prize. Is anyone you know on that list?

"Chocolate's Brown Study in the Bag", Rupert Chan's story told from his toy poodle, Chocolate's point of view will be launched during the evening. Also launched will be Mary-Jane Newton's remarkable first poetry collection, Of Symbols Misused, Caleb Kavon's moving second novella, The Reluctant Terrorist: In Search of the Jizo, and Lelawattee Manoo-Rahming's distinguished second poetry collection, Immortelle and Bhandaaraa Poems (Proverse Prize Finalist, 2009).

Books will be available for purchase from the Dymocks book table and there will be book-signing by several authors attending. If you cannot attend, please see the advance book purchase forms already available here.

Do get your tickets quickly to avoid disappointment!

Mary-Jane Newton's poetry and reviews were published in Issue 13 of Cha.
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Book Talk: Is The Writer Her Character(s)? | 24th February

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From the HKU Library website:

How much is a writer the character(s) of her novels? Authorial distance can often be hard to gauge in books that are supposedly "fiction." Come and join this provocative conversation between author Xu Xi and journalist Richard Lord as they discuss Xu's new novel Habit of a Foreign Sky. Xu will also give a brief, introductory reading from the book.

More information about the talk can be found here.
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Xu Xi's creative non-fiction was published in issue #6 of Cha.
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Cha contributors in The Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2011

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Cha contributors Martin Alexander, Andy Barker, Viki Holmes, Wena Poon, Xu Xi, Louise Ho, Leung Ping-Kwan and our Reviews Editor Eddie Tay will be appearing in The Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2011 (8-18 March). More details can be found here.
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Read Martin's "Smashing Up the Grand Piano" [and an analysis of the poem], Andrew's "Welded to Reason by Brittle Metals" [and a review of his Snowblind from My Protective Colouring], Viki's "smoking double happiness at the grand stage dinner & dance" [and a review of her miss moon's class], Wena's "Copernicus for a Singaporean Grandmother" [and an analysis of the poem], Xu Xi's "Confucius and Hair", Louise's poems, Ping-Kwan's poems, and finally, all Eddie's contributions, in Cha.

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[2010]
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City University of Hong Kong MFA Open House Sat Jan 22

Department of English, City University of Hong Kong

WHY DO YOU NEED A CREATIVE WRITING MFA?

You can't learn writing in school, right? If you have a good story you just write it, right? Well maybe, but if so, why are some of the world's best writers today graduates of MFA or MA in creative writing programmes? Also, why are some of the world's best writers so eager to teach and visit MFA programmes?

At City University of Hong Kong, we established a two-year, low-residency, international MFA focused on writing of Asia in English because we believe in the intensive creative experience such a programme fosters. You work individually with our faculty of award winning writers. You also come together at brief "residencies" for workshops, classes and lectures with the like-minded - writers who care about both the art and craft of making good literature. Our students come from all over the world and each year, we accept a small, select group of writers for our degree programme.

For details about the MFA, please visit http://www.english.cityu.edu.hk/mfa. 

OPEN HOUSE FOR THE MFA IN CREATIVE WRITING

Come to our Open House to learn more about our MFA and our scholarship offer for the most promising writer. Light refreshments served. For details about the scholarship, please click here.

January 22, 2011

2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

City Top Restaurant, 9/F Amenities Building, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon
For inquiries and to RSVP, email mfawriting@cityu.edu.hk or call Winnie Cheng at 3442 2388.

Writing Machine Collective 4th Edition Exhibition

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From their website:

The Writing Machine Collective 4th edition (Jan 14-30, 2011) promises to be a fresh and thrilling showcase of crème de la crème local media arts talents. 15 artists come together to offer us 12 unique works that explore how something so crucial to everyday life, the computer, can be an artistic medium.

Learn more about the exhibition here. Cha contributor Enrica Ho (cover artist, Issue # 7) will be having artwork showcased. If you are in Hong Kong, do go and support her! 

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Eddie Tay reads at Kubrick, Sunday 26 December 2010

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From the Kubrick Poetry website:

時間 Time：2010/12/26 (Sun) 5:00pm-6:00pm

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

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

詩人來賓 Guest Poet：Eddie Tay

Born in Singapore, Eddie Tay is a long time resident of Hong Kong. He is an assistant professor at the Department of English at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he teaches courses on creative writing, children literature and poetry. Tay is the reviews editor at Cha: An Asian Literary Journal.

Recently, he published his third poetry collection, The Mental Life of Cities. The collection is "a meditation on the modern city and creative life" and the poems are inspired by "the ways in which the English and the Chinese languages intertwine and take root in the Asian cities of Hong Kong and Singapore". He has authored two collections of poetry: Remnants and A Lover’s Soliloquy.

You are welcome to bring your own work to share, as always.

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The god of his own pathetic little world

This post was originally written on 9th September, 2009.

Foyles Bookstore, London

Tonight we saw John Banville (who is also Benjamin Black) at a free author’s talk organised by the Foyles Bookstore. In the event, Banville discussed his latest novel, The Infinities. It is interesting to know that the narrator of the new book is the god Hermes. This seems to be a deliberate spin on the modernists’ and postmodernists’ refutation that narrators are god-like. Indeed, Banville jokingly said that when he is writing a book, he is the god of his own pathetic little world. But he also emphasised that once a book is sent to the publisher, he can no longer claim that it is his. (That is to say, he needs to go back to being human after the completion of a novel.) Apart from references to Greek gods and goddesses (Banville claimed they are as petty, lustful and mischievous as human beings), there are also quite a few biblical allusions in the book: the family in the story is the Godleys, and the country house they live in is named Arden. The main character is the Mathematician Adam Godley, who has supposedly cracked the mystery of infinity. [Webmaster asked: "I wonder how accurate the characterization of the mathematician was; usually they tend to be portrayed in fiction as glorified numerologists."]

Other than commenting on The Infinities, Banville also shared his experience as a writer. When asked his view about the categorisation of his books, Banville said when he first started writing, there were not as many genres as today. “Fiction” and “Non-Fiction” were pretty much it. But there is now another category called “Literary Fiction”. Banville thought that he would just want his books to be on a shelf labelled “Good Books”.

Banville is often said to be influenced by Nabokov, Beckett and Joyce. But he said his biggest influence would be Henry James, who according to Banville is the most important realist and modernist writer. He went on to say that literary influence is something you try to flee from, and yet it is difficult to completely escape your predecessors.

Someone in the audience asked about this year’s Booker Prize. Banville was very honest to say that it would be foolish of him to pretend that he wasn’t disappointed that his book was not on the list. But he thought it is generally a good thing that the Booker Prize attracts more readers to mainstream fiction and that the ‘trade’ needs the attention and money to help fund writers who are just beginning their career. Talking about the Man Booker Prize, Banville’s The Sea was the winner in 2005. I had the chance to attend two events featuring him held in Hong Kong. Tonight, Banville also mentioned his Hong Kong tour, saying that after a talk, a Hong Kong woman came to him and said that the story in The Sea is very much the story of her life. And Banville’s response was: “But you are Chinese!”

It would be interesting to know that Banville is not satisfied with The Infinities. As it turns out, he has never been satisfied by his books, saying that he just wants to ‘get it right’ but is still not able to do so. He again half-jokingly commented that although his books are better than everyone else’s, they are still not good enough for him. And the only thing he could do is to heed Beckett’s advice from Worstward Ho (1983): “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

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Proverse Hong Kong will hold a winner's reception and launch five books (23rd November, 2010) ON TUESDAY 23 NOVEMBER

PROVERSE HONG KONG (PUBLISHERS OF PROSE AND VERSE) WILL HOLD A WINNER'S RECEPTION AND LAUNCH FIVE BOOKS ON TUESDAY 23 NOVEMBER

-name of event: international Proverse Prize for unpublished writing Winners' Reception & Book Launch

-date of event: Tuesday 23 November 2010.

-time 7.00pm-9.00pm.

-venue address: Blue Room, Helena May, 35 Garden Road, Central Hong Kong.

-admission price. HKD90 (includes finger-food). cash-bar.

Advance registration / payment required.

ON-LINE REGISTRATION FORM (Follow-up required by those wishing to attend) OR use downloadable registration form from website. 

-contact phone number 2259-3456

-contact email address: proverse@netvigator.com

The books are:

Laura Solomon's novella, Instant Messages

Rebecca Tomasis' novel, Mishpacha – Family

Jason Polley's short stories in verse, refrain,

Akin Jeje's Smoked Pearl: Poems of Hong Kong and Beyond

Olga Walló's autobiographical novel, Tightrope! A Bohemian Tale, translated from the Czech.

The names of the Shortlisted Writers for the international Proverse Prize for unpublished writing (2010) will be announced.

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HKWC NOVEMBER WORKSHOP - THE CLICHE: 29 November

THE HONG KONG WRITERS' CIRCLE NOVEMBER WORKSHOP - THE CLICHE: 29 November, 2010

Just Write workshop will focus on the cliche, some of the ones you hate, some of the ones we hate and some of the ones that were used in Measurements, the 2010 HKWC anthology. No preparation is required, just RSVP your attendance to melalho@gmail.com or on the HKWC Facebook page.

Admission is free of charge for members and pay-what-you-can for non-members.

Just Write: The Cliché

Date: Monday, 29 November 2010

Time: 7.30 - 9.00 pm

Venue: Upstairs at The Fringe, Hong Kong

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Performance Poet Blair Reeve Performs (17th November, 2010)

Originally posted on 21st October, 2010.

Women in Publishing Society Hong Kong

Invites you to

participate in an evening

of performance poetry

with

New Zealand performance poet

Blair Reeve

Blair will give us an insight into the whys and wherefores

of live performance poetry when he gets up to strut

his verbal stuff for our next gathering.

Blair Reeve has been reciting performance poetry for fifteen years. From his humble origins in Dunedin through the big smokes of Auckland and Tokyo, Blair ended up in Hong Kong. Blair recites monthly at the Poetry Outloud meetings in the Fringe Club in Central. He has recited his poetry in New York, London, Dublin, Tokyo, and Hong Kong, and yet despite wowing international crowds with his unique take on rhythm and meaning, Blair is a shy, humble poet, happy to share his work and inspirations with the man or woman on the street. Come to enjoy some great rhymin’ times as well as the chance to read something rhythmical yourself. If you have written any of your own poetry, please bring it along.

Date: Wednesday, 17th Nov, 2010

Time: 6.30 pm - 8.30 pm

Venue: Hughes Room, Foreign Correspondents’ Club,

2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong

Admission: $100 (WiPS members); $200 (non-members)

Registration: Registration required. EMAIL events@hkwips.org and write ‘poetry’ in the subject line. Payment can be made at the door by cash or cheque made out to “Women in Publishing Society”

Cancellations can only be accepted up to 48 hours before an event. The Hong Kong Women in Publishing Society is a non-profit organization devoted to promoting the status of women in publishing and other industries. It provides networking and training opportunities through events and workshops.

Blaire Reeve's poetry was published in issue#6 of Cha.

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Launch of Eddie Tay’s The Mental Life of Cities at Poetry OutLoud

Venue: Fringe Club

Date: 3 Nov 2010 (Wed)

Time: 8pm

Akin Jeje will MC - if you'd like to read in the open mic section, please email us at poetryoutloud@gmail.com

About The Mental Life of Cities

This collection is a meditation on the modern city and the creative life. The bilingual poems featured here are inspired by the ways in which the English and the Chinese languages intertwine and take root in the Asian cities of Hong Kong and Singapore.

Such a thick forest of words

we’re passing through –

is it possible to read from cover to cover?

The leaves are trembling in these hands,

waiting for a city to happen.

Born in Singapore, Eddie Tay is a long time resident of Hong Kong. He is an assistant professor at the Department of English at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he teaches courses on creative writing and poetry. He is also the reviews editor of Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, an online journal based in Hong Kong. This is his third collection of poetry.

Praise for Tay’s previous work:

“One finds ... many powerful and surprising effects ...”

—Wong Phui Nam in The Straits Times, Singapore

“... his poems are economical, full of evocative detail, and both ironic

and impassioned at one and the same time. I read them over and over

again.” —Bradley Winterton in The Taipei Times

“... a balance of definition and lyricism.”

—Annabel Walker in The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong

Click here to see how you can get a free signed copy of The Mental Life of Cities. You can also purchase a copy through Paddyfield here.

Poetry OutLoud -- A Hallowe'en Reading

From the event host, Kate Rogers:

Dear Poetry Lovers,

October is coming to a close and what better way to see in November than with a spooky poetry reading featuring writers from the International Writers' Workshop and our local Outlouders?

This extra-spectral Outloud event will be hosted by Kate Rogers - poet, lecturer, editor, and will take place at:

place: Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, 7A Kennedy Road, Central

date: Sunday 31st October 2010

time: 6.30pm-8.30pm

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Kate Rogers' poetry was published in issue#9 of Cha and her review of Todd Swift's and Chen Ching-In's poetry collections was published in issue#8 of the journal.