Hong Kong

Poetry

Four poems from Hong Kong

Matthew Cheng — poet, critic, and editor of the magazine Voice and Verse. He has published three collections of poetry and is the co-author of Wait and See, an anthology of poetry by six young Hong...

Text: Matthew Cheng 17 september 2020

Editorial

When Hatred Becomes the Air We Breathe

What is hate speech? Hate speech differs from any other use of language since it is used only to threaten, silence, and...

Text: Casia Bromberg 17 september 2020

Poetry

Takeout Poem

Writer and poet Cao Shuying was born in Harbin in northern China, but is currently living in Hong Kong. PEN/Opp publishes one of her poems—a poem where an unruly rebellious force is ever present:...

Text: Cao Shuying 13 juni 2019

Fiction

Hong Kong is my Myth and my Legend

Yan Lianke is one of China’s foremost authors. His recent texts have become more critical of society, which has made it harder to get them published. His works have either been retracted or not re...

Text: Yan Lianke 13 juni 2019

Article

Brave new city: the once fictional dystopian future of Hong Kong is now a reality

Writer and human rights activist Jason Y. Ng writes for PEN/Opp about how the long arm of the Chinese mainland stretches ever further into Hong Kong. Since the handover to Chinese sovereignty in 1997...

Text: Jason Y. Ng 08 augusti 2019

Editorial

Voices from Hong Kong with China in View

When we started up PEN/Opp in 2011 our ambition was to create a forum for people to tell stories that relate to the...

Text: Elnaz Baghlanian 14 juni 2019

Interview

Transforming Hong Kong

Bao Pu runs the publishing house New Century Press in Hong Kong that has published several politically sensitive books. In Jojje Olsson’s interview Bao Pu describes a Hong Kong that once had a...

Text: Jojje Olsson 13 juni 2019

Article

Letter to Gui Minhai

It has been over 1,400 days since the Swedish publisher Gui Minhai was imprisoned in China. This is a letter to Gui Minhai written by his publisher colleague Eva Gedin. “You cannot hear us but we are...

Text: Eva Gedin 13 juni 2019

Article

A Tale of Two Places

Jessica Yeung is a docent of translation at Hong Kong Baptist University where her research includes minority cultures. In this text she depicts the common denominators that weave together Hong Kong...

Text: Jessica Yeung 13 juni 2019

Fiction

Picnic at Victoria

”Justice is left unserved and history continues to be overwritten” Yoyo Chan, writer and translator, writes in her text that is taking place on the memorial day of the massacre at Tiananmen square in...

Text: Yoyo Chan 13 juni 2019

Article

What are we talking about when we talk about Hong Kong literature?

What is Hong Kong literature? Louise Law addresses this question in her text exploring the various literary tendencies in Hong Kong. This city, informed by linguistic and cultural diversity, is...

Text: Louise Law 13 juni 2019

Poetry

Burn After Reading

Lui Waitong’s poem “Read and Burn” is a personal text that depicts generations of suffering against the foil of Chinese history. The author takes a retrospective look at her maternal grandfather who...

Text: Liu Waitong 13 juni 2019

Article

Of Forbidden Words and Architecture in Hong Kong

In “Forbidden Words and Architecture in Hong Kong” author and journalist Ilaria Maria Sala sketches the development of architecture in Hong Kong as it opens more and more doors to Beijing and the...

Text: Ilaria Maria Sala 13 juni 2019

Poetry

Writing Despite Inarticulateness

“They did everything to keep us asleep,” says Tammy Ho Lai-Ming, writer and Chairperson of PEN Hong Kong, in one of her poems. Ever present in her poetry is the worry she feels for the future of Hong...

Text: Tammy Ho Lai-Ming 13 juni 2019

Fiction

Letter to my niece

There are rights in Hong Kong that don’t exist in China, but these have been more and more eroded in later years. Tammy Ho Lai-ming, poet, editor and vice chairperson of PEN Hong Kong gives in a...

Text: Tammy Ho Lai-Ming 29 november 2018