In May, Taiwanese poet Chen Yuhong will live and work as writer in residence in Amsterdam, at the invitation of the Dutch Foundation for Literature. Recently, the first Dutch translation (by Silvia Marijnissen) of a selection of 50 poems has been published by Poëziecenrum. During her residency Chen will do research for a future poem about the relationship between the Netherlands and Taiwan in the 17th century, and will perform in several cities in the Netherlands. The events will be English spoken.
Chen Yuhong (Taiwan, 1952) graduated from Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages. After having lived many years in Canada, she settled down in Taipei. So far, she has published seven poetry collections, for which she has received multiple awards. With Annotations she was named Poet of the Year. After the poetry volumes Trance and In Between, she received the prestigious Taiwan United Daily News Grand Prize in Literature in 2017 and was awarded the Taiwan’s Chinese Writers & Artists Association Medal of Arts with The Bewitched. Last year, her work was awarded the Swedish Cikada Prize for East Asian poets.
Partly due to translator Silvia Marijnissen, specialist in Chinese poetry, a first Dutch translation of Chen Yuhong’s work was released in the fall of 2022. De zon verschrompelt tot een witte dwerg (Poëziecentrum) includes fifty of her poems. Marijnissen is accompanying Chen during her stay in the Netherlands and will moderate several events.
Chen Yuhong not only writes poetry in Chinese but also translates poetry, especially Canadian and American poets such as Margaret Atwood, Ann Carson, Carol Ann Dufy and Louise Glück. Her translations have also been awarded: She received Taiwan’s Chinese Writers & Artists Medal of Literature Translation in 2021, and the following year the Liang Shih-Chiu Literary Translation Merit Award.
During her residency, Chen will give public intervieuws and readings, visit schools in Nijmegen and Wassenaar, and acquint herself with the Dutch poetry scene. Furthermore she will do reserach for a future poem about the relationship between the Netherlands and Taiwan in the 17th century. In 2024 it will be 400 years since the Dutch-Taiwanese relations started, as the VOC settled on Taiwan (formerly known as Formosa) in 1624.
Events (all English spoken)
- Wednesday, May 17: interview with Chen and Silvia Marijnissen at De Utrechtse Boekenbar in Utrecht
- Saturday, May 20: ‘Listening without searching’, an evening with Chen and Dutch poet Sasja Janssen at Perdu in Amsterdam
- Sunday, May 21: cultural living room Bind in Zaandam
- Monday, May 22: living room activity with Kreek Daey Ouwens via Man in the Maan in Eindhoven
More on
- the Amsterdam Writers Residency of the Dutch Foundation for Literature
- Chen Yuhong via Pangolin House