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Born in the UK in 1984, Jason Eng Hun Lee is a poet of mixed British and Chinese-Malaysian ancestry. He has been published and anthologised in the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2010, and was a finalist for the Hong Kong University Prize (2010) and runner-up for the Melita Hume Prize (2012). A regular contributor to the Hong Kong literary scene, he holds a PhD in English Literature and teaches at Hong Kong Baptist University. This is his debut collection.
These poems are tight-seamed, their subjects almost demanding fuller space. This book’s mature re-imagination of historical figures writes back to, and from, great men of the past, including ancient warriors and canonical poets. Via the everydaypleasures and cruelties of childhood, it incidentally but importantly registers the natural and cultural life of more locations than tend to enjoy space in mainstream ‘English’ nostalgic poetry. — Vahni Capildeo