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    • About

      Kit Fan - poet and fiction writer

      ​

      Kit Fan was born and educated in Hong Kong before moving to the UK at 21. He is a novelist, poet, and critic.

       

      His debut novel Diamond Hill is published in May 2021 by Dialogue Books/Little, Brown and World Editions.

       

      He was shortlisted for The Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize for 'Duty Free' in 2017 and for 'City of Culture' in 2018. He was also shortlisted for the 2017 TLS Mick Imlah Poetry Prize.

       

      His first book of poems Paper Scissors Stone (Hong Kong University Press, 2011) won the inaugural International HKU Poetry Prize.

       

      His second book of poems As Slow As Possible (Arc) was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation, one of The Guardian's 50 biggest books in Autumn 2018, and The Irish Times Best Poetry Book of the Year.

       

      He was winner of a Northern Writers' Award, The Times Stephen Spender Poetry Translation Prize, and the POETRY magazine Editors Prize for Reviewing.

       

      He is represented by the literary agent Matt Turner at Rogers, Coleridge & White.

    • Debut Novel

      DIAMOND HILL

      Winner of Northern Writers' Award

      Order at Bookshop UK, Foyles, Waterstones, WH Smith, and your local bookshop.

       

      'A vivid, powerful portrait of a vanishing world' - David Nicholls, author of One Day & Sweet Sorrow

       

      'A rapid-fire debut with a cinematographer's eye for detail, Diamond Hill interrogates fate, memory and redemption at a filmic velocity befitting its setting in Hong Kong's former Hollywood. Fan strikes a deft balance between agile set-pieces and lingering beauty.' - Naoise Dolan, author of Exciting Times

       

      'Gripping and highly accomplished . . . a thoroughly enjoyable and profound exploration of powerlessness, identity and the evolution of a city.' - The Guardian, Book of the Day

       

      'Fan is an exuberant chronicler of a lost time and place, delightedly preserving Cantonese slang and profanities... it's a timely consideration of Hong Kong's recent past.' - The Times

       

      'Fan creates a textured, unsettled portrait of a territory facing a decisive ending...The dark drama that unfolds is an elegy to that vanished vanishing world.' - The Wall Street Journal

       

      'Diamond Hill gleams with pleasurable insights...Memorable moments are sketched by a poet’s hand.' - South China Morning Post

       

      ‘Fan deftly mixes the sacred with the profane, often on the same page. Just when you decide there’s no room for holiness amid the wreckage, you realize there may in fact be no other option.’ - Kirkus Reviews

       

      'Fan’s evocative debut portrays a Hong Kong in transition... and brings poetic language and moving tributes to descriptions of the lost neighborhood. The novel’s aching beauty makes an effective argument for remembering.' - Publishers Weekly

       

      'Fan resurrects the neighbourhood as it would have looked in 1987, a decade before Britain's handover of Hong Kong to China - a precarious maze of shacks and open gutters, shaken constantly by the rumblings of the planes flying close overhead from nearby Kai Tak Airport.' - The Straits Times

      DIAMOND HILL

      'Do you know what it was like here? You wouldn't believe the glamour. We had our own film studio, redbrick houses for the stars, even Jackie Chan. Now look at us - the Hollywood of the Orient will soon be gone altogether.'

       

      1987, Hong Kong. Trying to outrun his demons, a young man who calls himself Buddha returns to the bustling place of his birth. He moves into a small Buddhist nunnery in the crumbling neighbourhood of Diamond Hill, where planes landing at the nearby airport fly so close overhead that travellers can see into the rooms of those below.

      As Buddha begins to care for the nuns and their neighbours, this pocket of the old city is vanishing. Even the fiery Iron Nun cannot prevent the frequent landslides that threaten the nunnery she fights for, and in the nearby shanty town, a faded film actress who calls herself Audrey Hepburn is hiding a deep secret and trying to survive with her teenage daughter who has a bigger fish to fry.

      But no one arrives in Diamond Hill by accident, and Buddha's ties to this place run deeper than he is willing to admit. Can he make peace with his past and survive in this disappearing city?

    • Poetry

      Kit Fan second book As Slow As Possible

      As Slow As Possible (2018)

      ​Poetry Book Society Recommendation for Autumn 2018

      The Irish Times Best Poetry Book of 2018

      The Guardian's 50 biggest books of Autumn 2018

      ‘The assurance of the voice in As Slow As Possible is often startling, partly because of the precision of its vulnerability, and partly because Fan seems to sense something in the language that gives his poems an uncanny momentum and coherence. There is wisdom encoded in these poems that is at once fleeting and revelatory. It is an extraordinary book.’ Adam Phillips

       

      ‘If there is something of Marianne Moore’s eccentric edginess in the formal accomplishment of these poems, there is also an elegant surrealism wholly Kit Fan’s own. As Slow as Possible deserves to be read in the way its title suggests: this is a collection that will lavishly reward careful and attentive reading.’ Caitríona O’Reilly

       

      Reviews of As Slow As Possible:

      • Richie McCaffery, The Poetry School
      • Claire Crowther, The Poetry Review
      • Rory Waterman, The Times Literary Supplement
      • Jen Campbell, YouTube review for The Poetry Book Society
      • Antony Huen, Hong Kong Review of Books
      Kit Fan first book Paper Scissors Stone

      Paper Scissors Stone (2011)

      ​Winner of the inaugural Hong Kong University International Poetry Prize

      “‘Then all things began twice.’ The poems in Paper Scissors Stone are moved by the forces of repetition and release, and are haunted by crossings (of borders, of people, of languages and their written characters). With wit and sorrow, precision and tact, the poems study the essential qualities of places, persons, and their arrangements, asking us what it is to begin twice. The book is a formally beautiful and complete meditation on transformation.”

      Saskia Hamilton

       

      “These extraordinary poems, so assured in their directions, so startling in their clarities, have an eerily dream-like wakefulness. Fan’s enigmatic lucidity is born of a confluence of traditions, both real and imagined. This is not simply a remarkable debut, but a brilliantly accomplished book.”

      Adam Phillips

       

      “Here is a collection of complex work, skillfully executed. The poems, each carefully measured and crafted, when taken together add up to a beautifully articulated body of work. This is the performance of a fully fledged poet.”

      Louise Ho

    • Poems

      Links to a selection of poems published online:

      Hokkaido, Poetry

      Hong Kong and the Echo, World Literature Today

      Vitreous Humour, The Poetry Review

      The Painted Skin, The Poetry Review

      June, by Bei Dao, Modern Poetry in Translation

      The Burning of Books, Prairie Schooner

      Rachel Whiteread’s Ghost, Soanyway

      From The Bostonians, The Compass Magazine

      Among School Teachers, Lacuna

      Late, Poetry Book Society

      Mother's Ink, Cha

      To the Shadow-Millions, Cha

      How Cangjie Invented Chinese Characters, Cha

      Lines from "Another Poem of Insomnia", Cha

      Ghost Letter, Cha

      "Chinese Poetry" (in translation), Cha

       

    • Short Stories

      Picture of a library and link to the short story

      Test Signal: Northern Anthology of New Writers

      Short story, 'Angel of the North'

      My short story, 'Angel of the North', about a man who returns to Darlington to meet his ex-partner after a job interview in London, is published by Bloomsbury and Dead Ink Books.

      Picture of an air ticket and link to the short story

      Duty Free

      Shortlisted, Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize 2017

      Sheila, an immigrant divorcee and mother, works as a cleaner while her son Sunny receives private tutoring in the Hong Kong International Airport where a strange incident has taken place and thrown the mother and son into actions that they have never dreamed before.

      Picture of a library and link to the short story

      City of Culture

      Shortlisted, Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize 2018

      Mai, a teenage girl from a seaside northern city, lives with her absent mother and works in her grandmother's Chinese takeaway after school. In a wake of a family crisis, she struggles to find her voice while participating in her school debate on the EU Referendum.

    • Literary Criticism

      Reviews:

      • Review of Shane McCrae's Cain Named the Animal (Cosair), Ocean Vuong's Time Is a Mother (Cape), Sylvia Legris's Garden Physic (Granta), John McCullough's Panic Response (Penned in the Margin), Signe Gjessing's Tractatus Philosophico-Poeticus (Lolli Editions). The Guardian (1 April 2022).
      • Review of Xu Zhimo in Cambridge, translated by Stuart Lyons (King's College, Cambridge). Times Literary Supplement (11 March 2022)
      • Review of Thom Gunn's Selected Letters. The Poetry Review (Winter 2021).
      • Review of Amanda Gorman's Call Us What We Carry (Chatto), The Guardian (8 December 2021).
      • Review of Paul Muldoon's Howdie-Skelp (Faber), Katharine Towers' Oak (Picador), Stephanie Sy-Quia's Amnion (Granta), Ian Duhig's New and Selected Poems (Picador), The Guardian (5 November 2021).
      • Review of Henri Cole's Blizzard (Farrar Straus Giroux), Salmagundi Magazine (Summer 2021).
      • Review of Shane McCrae's Sometimes I Never Suffered (Corsair) and J.O. Morgan's The Martian's Regress (Cape). The Poetry Review (Spring 2021).
      • Review of Alice Oswald's Noboby (Faber and W.W. Norton), POETRY (July/August 2020).
      • Review of Nguyễn Du's The Song of Kiều (Penguin), translated by Timothy Allen. The Poetry Review (Autumn 2019).
      • Review of Rachael Allen's Kingdomland (Faber) and Emily Hasler's The Built Environment (Pavilion). The Poetry Review (Spring 2019).
      • Review of Robin Robertson's The Long Take (Picador) and David Harsent's Salt (Faber). The Poetry Review (Summer 2018).
      • Review of Thom Gunn's Selected Poems (Faber), edited by Clive Wilmer. The Poetry Review (Winter 2017).
      • Review of Jorie Graham's Fast (Carcanet) and Pauline Stainer's Sleeping Under the Juniper Tree (Bloodaxe). The Poetry Review (Autumn 2017).
      • Review of Patrick McGuinness's Jilted City (Carcanet), John Ash's In the Wake of the Day (Carcanet), Kwame Dawes's Back of Mount Peace (Peepal Tree), and Richard Gwyn's Sad Giraffe Café (Arc). Poetry Review (Autumn 2010).
      • Review of Clive James's Angels Over Elsinore: Collected Verse 2003-2008 (Picador) and John Kinsella's Comus: A Dialogic Mask (Arc). Poetry Review (Spring 2009).
      • Review of Simon Armitage's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Faber), Sean O’Brien's Inferno: A Verse Translation (Picador), and Louise Glück's Averno (Carcanet). Poetry Review (Summer 2007).
      • Review of Chase Twichell's Dog Language (Bloodaxe), Elizabeth Alexander's American Blue: Selected Poems (Bloodaxe), and Tomaž Šalamun's Row (Arc). Poetry Review (Autumn 2006).

      Book Chapters:

      • Kit Fan (2015). Sinead Morrissey. In Jay Parini (ed.), British Writers. Retrospective Supplement III. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Charles Scribner's Sons.
      • Kit Fan (2000). Thom Gunn. In Jay Parini (ed.), British Writers. Supplement XXI. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons.

      Articles:

      • Kit Fan, "'Between the blank page and the poem': Reading Simone Weil in Contemporary American Poets, The Cambridge Quarterly 36:2 (2007), pp. 129-154.
      • Kit Fan, "Imagined Places: Robinson Crusoe and Elizabeth Bishop", Biography 28:1 (Winter 2005) pp. 43-53.
    • Media and Interviews

      Interviews:

      • Kit Fan interviewed by Jennifer Lau at the Toronto Public Library about his novel Diamond Hill
      • Kit Fan spoke to Alice Oswald at Poetry Magazine podcast about her poetry collection Nobody
      • Kit Fan interviewed by Kitaab about his poetry
      • Kit Fan interviewed by Hong Kong Radio 3 about this poetry

      Readings and Podcasts

      • Kit Fan spoke to Andrew McMillan, Rachael Allen and Zaffar Kunial about 'Who's Own Country?'
      • British Library recordings of Kit Fan's poems from his first collection Paper Scissors Stone
      • Chinese University of Hong Kong recordings of Kit Fan's poems
      • Kit Fan reading his poems at the Whitworth Gallery with Colette Bryce and Martin Kratz
      • Kit Fan reading his poems at Ó Bhéal poetry festival at Cork

      Performances:

      • Kit Fan performing a poetic sequence 'Genesis' at the Hong Kong International Literature Festival, with music composed by Adrian Lam
    • Events

      Current events

      3 June 2022, Reading and conversations with Alice Oswald, Keble College, Oxford

      Past events

      8 June 2018 Reading at Fugitive Ideas: A Cerebration for Hugh Haughton, the University of York

      10 July 2018 Short story, 'City of Culture' long-listed in the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize

      6 August 2018 Short story, 'City of Culture' shortlisted in the Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize

      27 July 2018 Poetry Book Society News Blog on my second book As Slow As Possible

      12 September 2018 Prize ceremony of the 2018 Guardian 4th Estate BAME Short Story Prize, London

      11 October 2018 Launch of As Slow As Possible organised by the Poetry Book Society and University of York, with Kate Potts and Zaffar Kunial

      23-24 November 2018 Reading at Ó Bhéal (Winter Warmer Festival), Cork, Ireland

      13 December 2018 Northern Poetry Showcase and Roadshow, York St John University

      19 January 2019 Poets and Players Reading with Colette Bryce and Martin Kratz, with music from the Kell Wind Trio, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester

      21 January 2019 In conversation with Adam Phillips, Lutyens & Rubinstein Bookshop, London

      29 March 2019 Wretched Strangers: Poetry & Migration, part of York Literature Festival

      27-30 May 2019 Unamuno Literary Festival, Madrid

      27-29 September 2019 Kings Lynn Poetry Festival, Kings Lynn Town Hall

      30 October 2019 Reading at the University of Sheffield with John Birtwhistle and Peter Hughes

      3-10 November 2019 Reading and Workshops in the Hong Kong Literature Festival

      23 November 2019 Interview by New Writing North on the debut novel Diamond Hill, University of Bradford

      19 September 2020 The Hong Kong Shuffle: a celebration of Hong Kong poetics

      18 October 2020 Durham Literary Festival, Dialogue Books Proof Party: Kit Fan and Buki Papilllon

      21 October 2020 Madrid Bookie: The Art of Self-Care - A Hygge Evening of Readings

      3 December 2020 From Irish Fever to Chinese Flu - The Racialisation of Epidemics: Reading with Ian Duhig and Anna Chen

      18 January 2021 Brixton Book Jam with Stella Duffy, Nikita Gill, Salena Golden, Kit Fan & Courttia Newland via Zoom, Facebook & YouTube

      16 February 2021 Poetry Reading: Launch of the Chinese Language poetry collection at Manchester Poetry Library, with Jennifer Lee Tsai and Natalie Linh Bolderston

      20 February 2021 Poetry Reading: Launch event of Hong Kong-Singapore Digital Travel Bubble

      6 March 2021 Poetry Reading: Asian Cha and What We Read Now with Annie Fan, Louise Leung, and Eddie Tay

      30 March 2021 Madrid Bookie event with Spencer Reece

      7 May 2021 Toronto Public Library: Launch of Diamond Hill

      10 May 2021 Times Radio interview with Mariella Frostrup

      10 May 2021 University of Liverpool: Launch of Diamond Hill with Xin Ran

      13 May 2021 Dialogue Book Launch of Diamond Hill with Fane Productions

      20 May 2021 University of York: Launch of Diamond Hill

      22 May 2021 Singapore: Instagram launch of Diamond Hill with Elaine Chiew

      9 June 2021 Reflecting/ed Modernity: Roundtable Discussion

      1 October 2021, Wasafiri Poetry Reading

      8-9 October 2021, San Francisco Litquake

      13 November 2021, Hong Kong International Literary Festival

    • Contact

      Agent: Matt Turner at Rogers, Coleridge & White

       

      You can also write to me directly:

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