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  • Flèche
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    • About

       

      Mary Jean Chan is the author of Flèche, published by Faber & Faber (2019) and Faber USA (2020). Flèche won the 2019 Costa Book Award for Poetry and was shortlisted in 2020 for the International Dylan Thomas Prize, the John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize, the Jhalak Prize and the Seamus Heaney Centre First Collection Poetry Prize. In 2021, Flèche was a Lambda Literary Award Finalist. Chan won the 2018 Geoffrey Dearmer Prize and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Single Poem in 2017 and 2019, receiving an Eric Gregory Award in 2019.

       

      Chan's writing has been featured in or is forthcoming from The New Republic, The New Statesman, The Guardian, Granta, The Poetry Review and The London Review of Books. In Spring 2020, Chan was guest co-editor alongside Will Harris at The Poetry Review. Chan co-edited 100 Queer Poems with Andrew McMillan, forthcoming from Vintage Books in June 2022. Chan is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing (Poetry) at Oxford Brookes University and serves as a supervisor on the MSt in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Chan currently lives in Oxford.

    • Winner of the Costa book Award for Poetry

      A Poetry Book Society Recommendation

       

      Reviews

       

      [An] extraordinary, brilliant and searingly honest collection...beautifully governed by formal rigour and literary excellence. – The Poetry Review

       

      [Chan] is one of those rare poets who leave you looking up with a sense that you can engage even the smallest part of the world around you with a much greater intensity. –​ PN Review

       

      Chan has picked a perfect title, one that is as expansive and evocative as the poems that it encompasses. –​ The Hong Kong Review of Books

       

      As [a] governing metaphor and organising principle...the sport [of fencing] provides enlivening strategies for the poetic realisation of loss and rebellion. –​ The Guardian

    • New Poems

      Selected Publications

       

      New Statesman

      New Republic

      Five Dials

    • Anthologies

      Selected Publications

      The Forward Book of Poetry 2018

      Faber & Faber (2017)

      Carcanet New Poetries VII

      Carcanet Press (2018)

      Wretched Strangers 

      Boiler House Press (2018)

      The Dizziness of Freedom

      Bad Betty Press (2018)

      She is Fierce: Brave, Bold and Beautiful Poems By Women

      Pan Macmillan (2018)

      Armistice: A Laureate's Choice of Poems

      of War and Peace

      Faber & Faber (2018)

      The Valley Press Anthology of Prose Poetry

      Valley Press (2019)

      Set Me On Fire:

      A Poem for Every Feeling

      Doubleday UK (2019)

      Islands Are But Mountains:

      New Poetry from the United Kingdom

      Platypus Press (2019)

      Tell Me the Truth About Life:

      A National Poetry Day Anthology

      Michael O'Mara Books (2019)

      The Forward Book of Poetry 2020

      Faber & Faber (2019)

      She Will Soar: Bright, Brave Poems

      About Escape and Freedom By Women

      Pan Macmillan (2020)

      Staying Human:

      New Poems for Staying Alive

      Bloodaxe Books (2020)

      Border Lines: Poems of Migration

      Penguin Random House (2020)

      Prose Poetry: An Introduction

      Princeton University Press (2020)

      Empty Nest: Poems for Families

      Picador Books (2021)

      Out of Time: Poetry from

      the Climate Emergency

      Valley Press (2021)

      Why I Write Poetry: Essays on Becoming a Poet, Keeping Going and Advice for the Writing Life

      Nine Arches Press (2021)

      Poems of the Decade 2011–2020:

      Forward Prizes for Poetry

      Faber & Faber (2021)

      The Sun Isn't Out Long Enough

      Anamot Press (2021)

      East Side Voices: Essays celebrating East and Southeast Asian identity in Britain

      Hodder & Stoughton (2022)

      After Sylvia: Poems and Essays in Celebration of Sylvia Plath

      Nine Arches Press (2022)

      100 Queer Poems

      Vintage Books (2022)

    • Prose

      Selected Publications

      The Best Recent Poetry:

      Review Roundup

      Guardian Review (2022)

      The Best Recent Poetry:

      Review Roundup

      Guardian Review (2021)

      John Keats: Five Poets

      on His Best Poems

      Guardian Books (2021)

      Review of Claudia Rankine's

      Just Us: An American Conversation

      The Stinging Fly (2020)

      Journeying is Hard: Difficulty, Race and

      Poetics in Sarah Howe’s Loop of Jade

      The Journal of British & Irish Innovative Poetry (2020)

      World Poetry Day: poetry can be the bridge

      that connects us during these difficult times

      Guardian Review (2020)

      The Best Recent Poetry:

      Review Roundup

      Guardian Review (2019)

      Towards a Poetics of Racial Trauma: Lyric

      Hybridity in Claudia Rankine's Citizen

      The Journal of American Studies (2018)

      Review of Jericho Brown's

      The New Testament

      Guardian Books (2018)

      Queerness as Translation:

      from Linear Time to Playtime

      Modern Poetry in Translation (2018)

    • Events

      Dates

      2022

       

      Some of the following events will take place online

       

      18 Jan: Reading, Dún Laoghaire Lexicon Library & Cultural Centre

      3 Feb: Reading, English and Creative Writing, Lancaster University

      21 Mar: Reading, "Poetry As/And Criticism", Maynooth University

      26 Mar: Reading and Q&A, The MSt in Creative Writing, Oxford

      5 Apr: Reading, The 2022 Think Human Festival, Oxford Brookes

      12 Apr: Moderator, Diana Bellessi with Leo Boix, Oxford Brookes

      21 Apr: Reading, Sylvia Legris & Mary Jean Chan, Granta Books

      17 May: Reading, Kayo Chingonyi & Mary Jean Chan, Birkbeck

      19 May: Reading, Theo Kwek & Mary Jean Chan, Kellogg College

      26 May: Judge, Jhalak Prize Awards Ceremony, The British Library

      4 June: Reading, Pride Month Panel, Blackwell's Bookshop, Oxford

      9 June: Reading, Oxford Review of Books June Issue Launch, Oxford

      11 June: Reading, Poetry Showcase, The Welshpool Poetry Festival

      12 Aug: Reading, Poetry Panel (host: Theo Kwek), Sing Lit Station

       

       

      2021

       

      16 Feb: Literature, Film & Theatre Seminars, University of Essex

      17 Feb: The Centre for Poetry & Poetics, University of Sheffield

      18 Feb: Foyle Young Poets Showcase, Poetry Society, London

      23 Feb: LGBTQ History Month, Putney High School, London

      27 Feb: Mary Jean Chan & Karen Solie, Kendal Poetry Festival

      5 Mar: Talk, The Cambridge Union, University of Cambridge

      8 Mar: Reading, Homerton College, University of Cambridge

      20 Mar: Reading, MSt Creative Writing, University of Oxford

      8 Apr: Reading & Poetry Prize Ceremony, Swarthmore College

      10 Apr: Celebration of Nathalie Anderson, Swarthmore College

      16 Apr: Desert Island Poems, The Seren Cardiff Poetry Festival

      22 Apr: Natalie Diaz with Mary Jean Chan, Manchester Lit Fest

      29 Apr: Oxplore Book Club (Live Poetry), University of Oxford

      6 May: The Herbert Society, Jesus College, University of Oxford

      21 May: The Creative Industries Festival, Oxford Brookes University

      1 June: The 33rd Lambda Annual Literary Awards, A Virtual Ceremony

      13 June: Mary Jean Chan & Will Harris, Ledbury Emerging Poetry Critics

      29 June: Professionalising Your Poetry, The Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre

      16 Sept: Reading and Q&A with Mary Jean Chan, University of Hong Kong

      25 Sept: Writers and Migrants, Poetics of Home, A Chinese Diaspora Festival

      3 Oct: Language, Home and Self, Poetics of Home, A Chinese Diaspora Festival

      10 Oct: Mary Jean Chan, Andrew McMillan & Paul Mendez, Cheltenham Lit Fest

      20 Oct: Reading by Mary Jean Chan, Inventions of the Text, Durham University

      22 Oct: Kazim Ali, Mary Jean Chan & Cole Swenson, The Big Poetry Weekend

      28 Oct: Reading and Q&A, Mary Jean Chan, Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan

      5 Nov: Reading and Q&A, Mary Jean Chan, Oxford High School, Oxford

      10 Nov: Mary Jean Chan, Yousif Qasmiyeh & Ruth Padel, ORB, Oxford

      6 Dec: Reading and Q&A, Mary Jean Chan, The University of Liverpool

       

      2020

       

      28 Jan: The Costa Book Awards Ceremony, Quaglino's, London

      10 Feb: The Think Human Festival, Oxford Brookes University

      22 Feb: The Verve Poetry Festival, Birmingham Hippodrome

      9 Mar: Letters Home by Jennifer Wong, Poetry Cafe, London

      8 May: Q&A with Kenny Leck, BooksActually, Singapore

      14 May: International Dylan Thomas Awards Ceremony

      15 May: Jhalak Prize, The Author's Club Online Lit Fest

      29 May: Books Are Magic Readings, New York, USA

      7 June: Words and Swords, The York Festival of Ideas

      19 June: Masterclass, Scottish BAME Writers Network

      28 June: Moving House by Theophilus Kwek, Carcanet Press

      2 July: Seamus Heaney Centre First Collection Awards Ceremony

      5 July: Ledbury Poetry Festival: Cathy Park Hong and Will Harris

      9 July: UCL Take Flight Hub, Sustaining Your Career as a Poet

      14 July: The National Literacy Trust Readings, Instagram Live

      16 July: HSS Research Series, Oxford Brookes University

      29 July: Queer Poetry Writing Week, Arvon at Home

      5 Aug: The Poetry Book Society Virtual Book Club

      24 Aug: The Edinburgh International Book Festival

      19 Sept: The Hong Kong Shuffle Online Readings

      1 Oct: National Poetry Day, Queen Anne's School

      3 Oct: What We Read Now: An Online Poetry Series

      11 Oct: Rainbow Writes: funded by FRIDA, Malaysia

      7 Nov: Spoke and Bird, A Poetry Open Mic, Singapore

      11 Nov: Literary Society, St Paul's Girls' School, London

      15 Nov: The Hong Kong International Literary Festival

      20 Nov: Queer Reads Library (Bilingual), Hong Kong

      28 Nov: Ó Bhéal Winter Warmer Poetry Festival, Cork

    • Media

      Readings and Interviews

      January 2020

      Faber & Faber

      August 2020

      The Edinburgh International Book Festival

      March 2021

      The Cambridge Union

    • Press

      Reviews, Features and Interviews

       

      Hong Kong Review of Books

      South China Morning Post

      Asian Review of Books

      Poetry International

      Adrian Brinkerhoff

      Poetry Extension

      DIVA Magazine

      Candid Orange

      Forward Prizes

      Ordinary Plots

      Poetry Society

      Waterstones

      PN Review

      Tatler Asia

      Palatinate

      QLRS

       

      Radio and Podcasts

       

      London Review Bookshop

      BBC Radio 3: Afterwords

      BBC Radio 4: Short Cuts

      BBC Radio 4: Front Row

      The Dylan Thomas Prize

      The Faber Poetry Podcast

      Eamonn M. McCormack / Getty Images

    • Contact

      Publicity: Kate Burton

      kate.burton@faber.co.uk

       

      Agent: Emma Paterson

      emma@aitkenalexander.co.uk

       

      Twitter: @maryjean_chan

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