November’s guest poet, on the 16th., Jennifer Wong will be opening up our narrowed worlds to her different experience. Jennifer will be reading to us from her work after a short Open Mic session, starting at 8 o’clock.
Jennifer was born and grew up in Hong Kong and is now living in the UK. She is a writer and translator. Her new collection, 回家 Letters Home, published by Nine Arches Press in 2020, has been named a Wild Card choice by Poetry Book Society. She is also the author of Goldfish (Chameleon Press 2013) – which won the Hong Kong Arts Development Council Young Artist Award (Literary Arts) and a pamphlet, Diary of a Miu Miu Salesgirl (Bitter Melon Poetry 2019).
Her works have appeared in Wasafiri, World Literature Today, Under the Radar, The Rialto, Magma Poetry, The North, Oxford Poetry, Prairie Schooner, Finished Creatures, Harana Poetry, Asian Cha, Voice & Verse, Stand and others. Her translation has featured in Poetry Review, Modern Poetry in Translation, Washington Square Review and Pathlight.
Her poems have been included in anthologies such as Wretched Strangers: Transnational Poetry anthology (Boiler House Press, 2018), Project Boast anthology, The Birdbook: Saltwater and Shore (Sidekick Books, 2016), Eight Hong Kong Poets (Chameleon Press, 2016), Lung Jazz: Young British Poets (Cinnamon Press 2012), World Record: An Anthology (Bloodaxe Books 2012), Outloud Too (MCCM Creations 2014) and Becoming Poets: The Asian English Experience (Peter Lang 2014).
She has reviewed poetry and fiction for journals including Poetry Review, Poetry London, Asian Review of Books, Cha, Magma Poetry, and Sabotage Reviews.
She was the runner-up in the Bi’an Writers Awards in 2018. In 2014, she received the Young Artist Award (Literary Arts) from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.
Wong studied English at University College, Oxford and received an MA in creative writing at the University of East Anglia (UEA). She has a PhD in creative writing from Oxford Brookes University where she is an Associate Lecturer in Creative Writing. She teaches at Poetry School and also works as a tutor. She has worked as writer-in-residence for Wasafiri magazine in 2020-21.
(Photo credit: Tai Ngai Long)
The Kent & Sussex Poetry Society 