• We’re very lucky to have you as our new Director of the MFA programme in Creative Writing. Before joining the School, you’ve also taught at many other institutions. How do you think the MFA programme stands out as a postgraduate course in Hong Kong, and what do you envision for its future?

Thank you for your kind words, Vincent. It is my honour to direct the long-standing MFA programme in our School. You are right that I’ve taught at other universities, and every opportunity and experience has prepared me for this challenging yet rewarding role. I am deeply grateful for the continuous and active support from our School, as well as the concerted and dedicated efforts of my teaching team.

Based on our experience in the first year, I am proud to say that we have started on the right foot. I have identified areas for refinement and growth, and I am optimistic that the MFA will remain a flagship programme of our School and beyond, while evolving in ways that will nurture a new generation of creative writers—those with a solid, critically informed literary foundation, and the drive and readiness to carve out their unique paths in their creative pursuits.

Given my commitment to creative writing education, along with the responsibilities of my directorship and the opportunities it presents, I am eager to inject new momentum into the programme by streamlining our curriculum and launching new cross-curricular initiatives. I also want to build on the programme’s legacy as the first of its kind in Hong Kong and Asia, and its distinctive status as a one-year intensive and inclusive programme. We will balance innovation with tradition.

In the age of transmediality and transculturalism, I wish to advocate for greater emphasis on writing across genres, writing that transcends cultural boundaries, as well as writing for and beyond print. My mission is to create experiences that cultivate an open mind in students about the essence and craft of a creative writer, as well as the fluid boundaries between genres, forms, cultures, and media.

  • You’re a very recent recipient of the Award for Young Artist (Arts Criticism) from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council – warmest congratulations from all of us! Could you share with us more about receiving this award, and how you see your role as a respected figure in the arts scene?

Thank you for being so encouraging! I am grateful to HKADC and my nominators. Writing is a largely solitary act, and receiving such a prestigious award is a meaningful recognition of the value of my work. My criticism focuses on contemporary Anglophone poetry, which is relatively uncommon in local academic and non-academic scenes. The award, therefore, holds an additional significance: it highlights that artmaking should be driven by passion and intrinsic motivation, rather than by chasing paradigms or seeking association with the mainstream.

While I truly appreciate the recognition, I remain humbled by every new creative work and artist I discover and encounter every day. In the arts scene, I see myself as a dedicated and forward-thinking academic with expertise in both creative writing and criticism. At the same time, I’m an avid learner, who inspires the next generation to be equally driven by curiosity and humility. Last year, in our School, I initiated a writers’ series in the HKU Black Box, championing the works and artists I admire and demonstrating to students and the public that creative practice can take many forms. The Black Box Magazine has been a sister initiative, driven by my mission to nurture new writers and recognise local creativity.

  • While you teach creative writing courses in the programme, you’re also an award-winning essayist and poet yourself. How did you decide that this was something you wanted to pursue as a career?

I believe in balancing goal-setting and hard work with managing expectations and leaving room for flexibility, surprises, and uncertainties in life. I was grateful for a scholarship from the University of Birmingham when I set out to pursue a degree in creative writing, but beyond the financial support, I also wanted to explore and develop my creative potential.

Upon returning to Hong Kong, I secured various academic positions. Naturally, I gravitated towards teaching creative writing, gradually building my teaching repertoire and gaining experience and interest in developing a career in this field. Simultaneously, I established a track record of critical and creative publications, which, in turn, enriched my understanding of creative writing and its pedagogies. I also spent several years pursuing my PhD at the University of York, aiming to advance as a writer and academic during this career break.

Overall, it is not a single moment of decision, but rather a series of small choices I made over the years. It’s a web of efforts, passion, and serendipity, which, when interconnected, forms the fabric of my career. There was no definitive turning point. Looking back, I see a blend of trial and error, seeking advice from peers and mentors, reflection, self-evaluation, and manifestation.

  • Creative writing takes on many genres and forms. With your experience here at the School and elsewhere, what would you say students are most interested in studying, and how does that translate to the burgeoning of the creative arts scene in Hong Kong?

Students tend to develop diverse interests through dedicated studies in creative writing. As they read broadly and closely, and emulate writers they admire, they will gradually develop their approaches to creative writing. At the beginning, they may be most interested in a specific genre or form, and eventually, they invest themselves in very different modes of writing.

They will also discover the fluidity of creative genres, which is most evident in their capstone projects. Last year, I supervised a student whose poetry portfolio combines quotidian observations with travel writing, and altogether, constitutes a sustained narrative voiced by a non-local finding her way through a self-contradictory city. Another student incorporated poetry into a novella, a trans-generational and multi-genre tale driven by the interplay of obsession and hesitation.

I must say that the interests of students are increasingly wide-ranging, and even for individual students, their interests evolve and are often varied to begin with. However, I have observed in the local arts scene that poetry stands out, largely thanks to institutional and community-level efforts, as well as the recent, critically acclaimed debuts by young poets originating from Hong Kong. Meanwhile, we continue to see new novels and memoirs set in Hong Kong. Many of these may have fallen off our radar as they are not published here or sold in mainstream bookstores. I have been exploring these developments and trends in my criticism.

  • We’re expecting to welcome a wonderful selection of budding writers in the coming academic year. What is something you think prospective students should know as they prepare for their time at the School?

I am excited to welcome the new cohort. Our incoming and future students should know that the MFA programme remains committed to the latest developments in creative writing and contemporary literature. We strive to balance building historical, theoretical, and literary foundations with providing experiential opportunities, where students can explore and experiment with different creative writing practices and approaches.

I expect students to be fully dedicated to reading and writing during the one-year programme, nurturing their literary sensibility and sense of curiosity as they study diverse examples and innovate in their writing. In the process, they will face many challenges but will also find satisfaction in achieving progress and milestones. To stay motivated, they need to discover intrinsic value in their creative practice. They need to ask themselves: Does writing bring me peace of mind? Does it spark joy? Do I feel a sense of achievement? I also hope students will contribute actively to our vibrant MFA community through mutual support and empowerment.

To my new students, stay curious, be persistent and patient, cherish criticism, and believe in yourself and your voice. Read and write on.