19歲香港學生Eric Yip 奪英國國家詩詞比賽冠軍,成為該獎項史上最年輕得主。


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    【#香港人揚威海外】英國國家詩詞比賽 (National Poetry Competition)昨日(31日)公布獲獎名單,就讀劍橋大學經濟系、19歲的香港學生Eric Yip憑作品《Fricatives》奪冠,成為該獎項史上最年輕得主。詩中涉獵殖民主義、種族、移民、歸屬感、離鄉別井的內疚等議題,評審之一的英國詩人Fiona Benson更形容,此詩「雄心勃勃,成就非凡」。

    Eric Yip接受《衛報》訪問時表示,對獲獎感到震驚,但自己只是19歲,還有許多需要學習的地方,將來還要閱讀更多、寫得更多。這次勝利對他來說是一個開始,是對他繼續寫作和不斷進步的一個鼓勵。

    Eric又稱,作為一個說廣東話和普通話、但用英文寫詩的人,美籍越南裔詩人王鷗行 (Ocean Vuong)讓他明白到,自己「有被聽到的權利」("had a right" to be heard):「你幾乎會感到內疚,因為當你用英文寫作時,寫下關於香港、你的家鄉和你的文化時,你是積極地進行翻譯工作,這一點我非常清楚,也是我希望探索的主題之一。」

    《Fricatives》全文:

    To speak English properly, Mrs Lee said, you must learn

    the difference between three and free. Three men

    escaped from Alcatraz in a rubber raft and drowned

    on their way to Angel Island. Hear the difference? Try

    this: you fought your way into existence. Better. Look

    at this picture. Fresh yellow grains beaten

    till their seeds spill. That's threshing. That's

    submission. You must learn to submit

    before you can learn. You must be given

    a voice before you can speak. Nobody wants to listen

    to a spectacled boy with a Hong Kong accent.

    You will have to leave this city, these dark furrows

    stuffed full with ancestral bones. Know

    that death is thorough. You will speak of bruised bodies

    skinnier than yours, force the pen past batons

    and blood, call it fresh material for writing. Now

    they're paying attention. You're lucky enough

    to care about how the tongue moves, the seven types

    of fricatives, the articulatory function of teeth

    sans survival. You will receive a good education

    abroad and make your parents proud. You will take

    a stranger's cock in your mouth in the piss-slick stall

    of that dingy Cantonese restaurant you love and taste

    where you came from, what you were made of all along.

    Put some work into it, he growls. C'mon, give me

    some bite. Your mother visits one October, tells you

    how everyone speaks differently here, more proper.

    You smile, nod, bring her to your favourite restaurant,

    order dim sum in English. They're releasing

    the students arrested five years ago. Just a tad more

    soy sauce please, thank you. The television replays

    yesterday on repeat. The teapots are refilled. You spoon

    served rice into your mouth, this perfect rice.

    Steamed, perfect, white.