1949
Born in Guangdong, China, and moved to Hong Kong with parents the same year. At age 4, father died.
1963
Started to publish poems in The Chinese Student Weekly.
1968
Debuted as a columnist in Hong Kong Times, with a literary column titled ‘Literary Fragments’.
1970
Graduated from the English Department, Hong Kong Baptist College (now Hong Kong Baptist University).
Started literary columns ‘My Writing Room’ and ‘Books and Streets’ in Express Daily (edited by Liu Yi-chang), until 1978.
Published work:
—— Contemporary French Short Stories (co-edited and co-translated with William Tay). Taipei: Chen Chong.
1971
Published work:
—— The New American Writing (editor and translator). Taipei: Huan-yu.
1972
Founded the literary magazine The Four Seasons (1972-1975), the first Chinese-language magazine to introduce and translate Latin American literary masters such as Gabriel García Márquez and Jorge Luis Borges before they were widely known.
Editor of Grove Magazine, an influential magazine of art and literature in Hong Kong.
Published works:
—— Grey Pigeon Mornings (prose). Taipei: Yu-shi. Yasi’s first book of prose, a collection of early essays written between the ages of 16 and 21. Editor Ya Hsien: “Young Yasi brings from Hong Kong a brand new literary language”.
—— Contemporary Latin American Short Stories (editor and translator). Taipei: Huan-yu.
1973
Married novelist Ng Hui Ben.
Editor of the ‘Poetry Page’ in The Chinese Student Weekly, which encouraged writing on Hong Kong issues and day-to-day happenings – a great influence on young poets in Hong Kong.
1974
Son Yeeman born.
1975
Founded The Thumb Weekly (1975-1987), an influential literary journal after The Chinese Student Weekly ceased publication in 1975; served as chief editor until 1978.
Instructor, Extra-mural Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, teaching modern Chinese poetry and novels until 1978.
1977
Wrote a literary column titled ʻA Spot of Teaʼ in Sing Tao Evening News, till 1978.
Wrote and directed the stage play Mouse, performed and produced by editors of The Thumb Weekly at Hong Kong Arts Centre.
1978
Began graduate studies in the Department of Comparative Literature, University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
Published works:
—— The Thunderbolt and the Cicada Song (poetry). Hong Kong: The Thumb Press. His first book of poems, written between the ages of 16 and 29, greatly influenced young poets of both Hong Kong and Taiwan.
—— Myths and Lunches (prose). Taipei: Hung-fan.
—— Selected Stories by The Thumb (co-edited with Fan Chun Feng). Taipei: Yuan-Ching.
1979
Published works:
—— Shimen the Dragon-keeper (fiction). Kao Hsiung: Min Chong Daily. His first book of short stories, humourous and imaginative.
—— Short Stories by Hong Kong Young Writers (co-edited with William Tay). Taipei: Min Chong Daily.
1981
Published work:
—— Landscapes and Portraits (prose, edited by Liu Yi-chang). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Literature Research Centre.
1982
Published work:
—— Paper Cut-outs (fiction). Hong Kong: Su Yeh Literature. Serialised fiction, first published in Express Daily in 1977; the first Chinese-language novel with elements of magical realism, about two similar/different girls at the juncture of tradition and modernity, and their obsessions and loves. Second edition published in 2003, third edition in 2012, fourth edition in 2014.
1983
Brief return to Hong Kong from California (82-83 summer). Started to write the ‘Lotus Leaves Series’ (1983-1999), about human relationships and the political situation in Hong Kong (such as the impending 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and the 1997 Handover). Returned to the USA in the fall.
1984
Returned to Hong Kong after completing PhD degree in Comparative Literature at UCSD. His doctoral dissertation Aesthetics of Opposition: A Study of the Modernist Generation of Chinese Poets. 1936-1949 was an important contribution to the study of Modern Chinese Literature.
Poetry and art exhibition ‘Journey’ at Zuni Ichosahedron.
1985
Daughter Anwen born.
Started teaching at the University of Hong Kong in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, until 1997.
Choreographer Sunny Pang adapted Journey into a modern dance programme, ‘Dance．Literature’.
Poetry and art exhibition ‘Journey’ with artist Donna Lok at the Institute for the Promotion of Chinese Culture.
Published works:
—— Journey (poetry; etching by Donna Lok). Hong Kong: Institute for the Promotion of Chinese Culture.
—— Lights and Shadows (prose). Hong Kong: SCMP Book Publishing.
—— Books and Cities (critical writing). Hong Kong: Xiangjiang Publishing.
1986
Dialogue among Poetry, Dance and Painting, a collaboration with choreographer Sunny Pang and artist Choi Yan Chi based on the ‘Lotus Leaves Series’ at the Fine Arts Department Workshop, the University of Hong Kong.
1987
RTHK ‘Fiction Family’ Series adapted the short story ‘The Pocket Watch of Auntie Lee’ into a television drama.
Published works:
—— City Notes (prose). Taipei: Tong Ta Books.
—— Islands and Continents (fiction). Hong Kong: Chinese Culture Publishing. Stories of people from Hong Kong drifting between old and new continents.
1988
Published work:
—— Three Fish (fiction). Hong Kong: Tian Yuan Books. A collection of three novellas.
1989
Participated in ‘Object-act-ivities’, a poetry-art-dance-installation exhibition with Choi Yan Chi, Mui Cheuk Yin, and others, across three nights, from object-poetry to activities in memory of those who died in the Tiananmen Incident, contemplating repression and freedom.
Published works:
—— Selected Works of Leung Ping Kwan. Hong Kong: Joint Publishing. A selection of poetry, prose and fiction.
—— Leong Ka Tai on China: One to Twenty Four. Hong Kong: CAMERA 22 LTD. A collection of 24 poems by Leung Ping Kwan and images by Leong Ka Tai.
1990
Poetry and photography exhibition with Lee Ka Sing at Hong Kong City Hall.
Awarded grant from Goethe-Institut Hong Kong to visit Berlin and East Europe.
Published works:
—— The Mountain is the Mind: Selected Poems and Prose by Gary Snyder (co-edited and co-translated with Lin Yao Fu). Taipei: UNITAS Publishing.
—— Postcards from Prague (fiction). Hong Kong: Chuangjian. Stories about Eastern Europe in the face of new political issues, reflecting on the changes of China and Hong Kong.
1991
Postcards from Prague won the Hong Kong Biennial Award for Chinese Literature (Fiction) presented by the Hong Kong Urban Council.
Awarded grant from Asian Cultural Council to conduct research on film and literature in New York for half a year.
Published work:
—— Red-beak Seagulls of Kunming (prose). Hong Kong: Breakthrough. A collection of prose about changes in China between 1984, when it opened up for reforms, and 1989, when everything suddenly stopped after the Tiananmen Incident.
1992
Conferred Artist of the Year Award by the Hong Kong Artists Guild.
Published work:
—— City at the End of Time (poetry, bilingual edition in English and Chinese co-edited and co-translated with Gordon T. Osing). Hong Kong: Department of Comparative Literature, The University of Hong Kong & Twilight Books. A book about the change and anxiety in Hong Kong leading up to the 1997 Handover. The photograph for the book cover, City at the End of Time by Lee Ka Sing is in the collection of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.
1993
Made video At the North Point Car Ferry Pier (47 min). A documentary with fictional characters, on the different levels of North Point history, and the disappearing memories.
Published works:
—— Popular Culture in Hong Kong (critical writing, editor). Hong Kong: Joint Publishing.
—— Cities of Memory, Cities of Fabrication (fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. Serialised novel, originally published in Express Daily in 1983 titled Journey of the Worry Dolls; about Leung Ping Kwan’s odyssey home after years of absence through Paris, San Francisco and New York with small Guatemalan Worry Dolls to give to friends to relieve their worries.
1994
Collaborated with choreographer Mui Cheuk Yin on a cross-disciplinary performance Shadow of Flowers based on the novel Paper Cut-outs.
Participated in ‘Art in June’ joint exhibition, Hong Kong Arts Centre.
Participated in the exhibition, ‘Hong Kong Sixties: Designing Identity’, curated by Oscar Ho and Matthew Turner, which explored the cultural identification of Hong Kong in the 60s through design.
Published works:
—— Cultural Scrapbook of the Sixties (editor). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Arts Centre.
—— Searching for Space: Selected Stories (fiction). Beijing: Beijing University Press.
1995
Visiting scholar, York University, Canada, giving lectures on Hong Kong Literature and Chinese Literature.
Participated in ‘Camera Work’ joint exhibition, The Hong Kong Fringe Club.
Published works:
—— Poetry of Moving Signs (poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. Poems written when Leung Ping Kwan left home for other cities; he felt his poems did not have a home either.
—— Floating Weeds: Selected Poems (poetry). Beijing: Zhongguo Wenlian.
—— Hong Kong Culture (critical writing). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Arts Centre.
—— Midway: Selected Poems of Leung Ping Kwan (poetry). Hong Kong: Writers’ Publications.
1996
Midway: Selected Poems of Leung Ping Kwan won the Hong Kong Biennial Award for Chinese Literature (Poetry).
Editor of Cultural Perspectives Series (1996-2001), which published 20 books of creative writing and cultural studies by contemporary Hong Kong writers. Hong Kong: Youth Literary Bookstore.
Poetry-installation exhibition, ‘Engaging Tradition II - Relocation of History’, with artist Lam Kong at the University Museum, The University of Hong Kong; a response to the Chinese art collection of the Museum, some poems were written from the perspective of the antique fragments.
Published works:
—— Museum Pieces (poetry). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Arts Centre.
—— Hong Kong Cultural Space and Literature (critical writing). Hong Kong: Youth Literary Bookstore
—— Letters across Borders (prose). Hong Kong: Youth Literary Bookstore. Cross-boundary cultural observations and reflections about the East and West.
—— Journey of the Worry Dolls (fiction). Guilin: Lijiang Publishing. Stories about Leung Ping Kwan’s odyssey home after years of absence through Paris, San Francisco and New York with small Guatemala Worry Dolls to give to friends to relieve their worries. Reprint of The City of Memory．The City of Fabrication (1993).
1997
Made video Moving Home (25 min), a documentary about the complex feelings towards the 1997 Handover; shown at the Hong Kong International Film Festival and London Film Festival.
Participated in multimedia performance Unsettled Spirits with Kung Chi Shing, Mui Cheuk Yin, Priscilla Leung, and Oscar Ho at Hong Kong Arts Centre and in Berlin.
Participated in the ‘The Metropolis – Visual Research into Contemporary Hong Kong’, an exhibition curated by Wong Wo Bik at Hong Kong Arts Centre with Hong Kong photographers to explore the changes of different regions of Hong Kong with poetry and images, resulting in the publication of a book by the same name.
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘Foodscape’ with Lee Ka Sing at Artspeak Gallery, Toronto. The exhibition was an answer to the questions about 1997, and an exploration of culture and history through food.
Chair Professor of Comparative Literature in the Department of Chinese at Lingnan University, and Director of the Centre for Humanities Research, from 1997 to 2013.
Chief editor of JMLC (Journal of Modern Literature in Chinese), published by the Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University, an important bilingual publication founded in 1997 for the study of modern literature in Chinese.
Published work:
—— Foodscape (poetry; bilingual edition in Chinese and English, translated by Martha Cheung, images by Lee Ka Sing). Hong Kong: The Original Photograph Club Limited.
1998
Writer in Residence, Berlin, with a grant from DAAD Research Fund (Germany) to research German history and culture, resulting in the book, Walking in Berlin (2002).
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘Foodscape II’ with Lee Ka Sing at the Goethe-Institut Gallery, Hong Kong.
Organised a mock fashion show ‘Clothink’ with Wessie Ling at Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre to explore different aspects of pop culture.
Published works:
—— Clothink (poetry and installation exhibition catalogue, fashion and images by Wessie Ling, bilingual Chinese and English edition, translated by John Minford, Jasmine Tong et al.). Hong Kong: Youth Literary Bookstore.
—— Selected Short Stories of Hong Kong from the 1960s (editor). Hong Kong: Cosmos Books.
2000
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘Foodscape III’ with Lee Ka Sing at Tokyo Rou-un-ki Aki-ex Gallery.
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘Foodscape IV’ with Lee Ka Sing at Munich Ruffini Kultur.
Poetry reading in Berlin.
Poetry and mixed media performance Strange Stories of Flowers and Birds with musician Kung Chi Shing and video artist Ann Mak at Goethe-Institut Hong Kong.
Published works:
—— Seltsame Geschichten von Vögeln und Blumen (poetry, in German translation, translated by Wolfgang Kubin). Hong Kong: Goethe-Institut.
—— Von Politik und den Früchten des Feldes (poetry, in German translation, translated by Wolfgang Kubin). Berlin: DAAD Berliner Künstlerprogramm.
—— East West Matters (poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Moon across Borders (prose). Hangzhou: Zhejiang Literary Press.
—— Postcards from Prague (image-fiction, expanded version of the 1991 edition, images by Almond Chu et al., edited by Ann Mak). Hong Kong: Youth Literary Bookstore.
2001
Visiting Scholar, Heidelberg University, Germany, lecturing on Hong Kong Literature.
Published work:
—— Îles et Continents (fiction, French translation of Island and Continents, edited and translated by Annie Curien). Paris: Gallimard.
2002
Participated in poetry and installation exhibition ‘Taste of Asia’ curated by Kan Tai Keung and Freeman Lau in the New Vision Arts Festival, where 8 Asian artists designed small ‘food boxes’ featuring the national dish of their countries. Leung Ping Kwan wrote poems exploring the relationships between food and culture for each dish, placed inside the boxes.
Published works:
—— Travelling with a Bitter Melon (selected poems 1973-1998, in English and Chinese, edited and translated by Martha Cheung, preface by Rey Chow). Hong Kong: Asia 2000.
—— Walking in Berlin (prose). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— New Fruits from Taiwan (prose). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Street Portraits (extended version of Landscapes and Portraits, prose). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— New Year’s Eve in Kunming (prose, extended version of Red-beak Seagulls of Kunming published in 1991). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Light and Shadows (reprint, prose). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Islands and Continents (reprint, fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Shimen the Dragon-keeper (reprint, fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Books and Cities (reprint, fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Rereading Eileen Chang (co-edited with Joseph Lau and Xu Zidong). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
2003
Visiting scholar, Tokyo University, lecturing on Hong Kong Literature and urban literature.
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘Food and the City’ at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong.
Poetry and installation exhibition ‘2, 3 things about Hong Kong’ with Lee Ka Sing and anothermountainman, CityU Gallery, City University of Hong Kong.
Published works:
—— Walking in Berlin (prose). Beijing: Joint Publishing.
—— Paper Cut-outs (reprint, fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
2004
Visiting scholar, Zurich University; organised a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary workshop with Professor Andrea Riemenschnitter on Swiss myths and legends, resulting in the book Legends from the Swiss Alps (co-edited with Andre Riemenschnitter), a collection of 75 legends translated by Zurich University students into Chinese (2009).
Poetry-photography-installation exhibition ‘Hong Kong Foodscape’ with Millie Chen and Lee Ka Sing at Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
Choreographer Mui Cheuk Yin, composer Fréderic Blin, and vocalist Priscilla Leung adapted Leung Ping Kwan’s ‘Lotus Leaves Series’ into the dance-music-vocal production Lot．us, performed in the New Vision Arts Festival, and then in France and Germany.
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘East West Matters’ and poetry reading at Bern Raum Gallery, Switzerland.
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘East West Matters’ in Frankfurt Museum of Applied Art.
Poetry reading, Paris.
Poetry reading, Reitberg Museum, Zurich.
Lecture, Geneva Library.
Published work:
—— The Language of Fruits and Vegetables, designed by Lee Ka Sing, a dialogue between the poem ‘Green Salad’ by Leung Ping Kwan and 252 photos by Lee Ka Sing, part of the poetry- photography-installation exhibition ‘Hong Kong Foodscape’ at Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
2005
‘Cityscape．People．Food’ photography exhibition at Joint Publishing Exhibition Hall, Hong Kong.
Published works:
—— Yasi’s Hong Kong (prose). Hong Kong: Joint Publishing.
—— Studies of Modern Poetry in Chinese (co-edited with Chan Ping Leung and Chan Chi Tak). Hong Kong: Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University.
—— An Annotated Bibliography of Hong Kong Cinema Adapted from Literature (co-edited with Mary Wong). Hong Kong: Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University.
2006
Conferred Medal of Honour by the Hong Kong SAR Government.
Awarded Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research at Harvard University.
Writer in Residence, Saorge Monastery in Nice, Southern France
Poetry and photography exhibition (images by Lee Ka Sing) at Saorge Monastery.
Invited among 100 writers around the world to participate in the ‘Table for Free Voices Forum’ in Bebelplatz Square, Berlin, in memory of 10 May 1933 when the Nazi Party burned 20,000 books in an attempt to suppress free thinking.
Literary consultant to the Chinese opera Recollection of Dreams about the dramatist Tang Xianzu writing his play The Peony Pavilion.
Published works:
—— De ci de là des choses (poetry, in French translation, translated and edited by Annie Curien). Paris: Youfeng. The book was the result of the poetry and photography exhibition with Lee Ka Sing in Paris, 2004.
—— Vegetable Politics (poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— East Asian Culture & Modern Literature in Chinese (critical essays, co-edited with Amanda Hsu). Hong Kong: Mingpao Publications.
2007
Published work:
—— Islands and Continents (fiction, in English translation, translated and edited by John Minford with Brian Holton and Agnes Chan Hung-Chong). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
2008
Writer in Residence at Saorge Monastery for the second time, accompanied by daughter, wrote poems full of “sunshine and petals”, later collected in Chinese Poems in Provence (2012).
Poetry reading in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Poetry reading in Basel, Switzerland.
Poetry reading in Zurich, Switzerland.
Published works:
—— Correspondences on Urban Culture: Hong Kong in Focus (correspondences with Inuhiko Yomota about cultural phenomena in Hong Kong and Japan, in Japanese, translated by Sadako Ikegami). Tokyo: Iwanami Shaten.
—— The Filmic Art of King Hu (co-edited with Hu Weiyao). Hong Kong: Mingpao Publications.
—— Writing about Hong Kong@Literary Stories (critical essays; series coordinated by Leung Ping Kwan, edited by Hong Kong Literature Research Group under Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University). Hong Kong: Educational Publishing. Awarded the 2008 Hong Kong Book Prize.
—— Creative Writing with Pai Hsien-yung: Notes of Literary Creative Workshop at Lingnan University (series coordinated by Leung Ping Kwan, edited by Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University). Hong Kong: Educational Publishing.
2009
Participated in ‘Swiss-China Cultural Explorations (2008-2010)’ organised by Pro Helvetia, Switzerland.
Participated in cross-disciplinary theatre series ‘Passion of Body Art’ which explores the culture of sports and body form from the perspective of the body, and directed one story Three Sections.
Published works:
—— Postcolonial Affairs of Food and the Heart (fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. A novel with comedic and even absurd elements to portray people facing various changes after 1997, written from the perspectives of food and love.
—— The Thunderbolt and the Cicada Song (reprint, poetry). Hong Kong: Click Press.
—— Journeys across Borders: Selected Stories (fiction). Hong Kong: Mingpao Publications.
—— Von Jade und Holz (poetry, in German translation, translated by Wolfgang Kubin). Klagenfurt/Celovec: Drava Verlag.
—— Shifting Borders (poetry, in English and Chinese, translated by Christopher Kelen, Leung Ping Kwan, Chris Song Zijiang and Debby Sou Vai Keng). Macao: Association of Stories in Macao.
—— Hong Kong Urban Culture & Urban Literature (a collection of critical essays for the Frankfurt Book Fair, co-edited with Amanda Hsu and Lee Hoi Lam). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Story Association.
—— Legends from the Swiss Alps (a collection of Swiss myths translated into Chinese by Zurich University students, co-edited with Andrea Riemenschnitter). Hong Kong: MCCM Creations. The book was the result of a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary workshop on myths and legends organised by Professor Andrea Riemenschnitter and Leung Ping Kwan when he was the visiting scholar at Zurich University in the summer of 2004.
2010
Conferred Best Artist Award (Literary Arts) by Hong Kong Arts Development Council.
Attended ‘Festivala Literature Sveta ¡X Fabula 2010’ in Slovenia.
Group Exhibition: ‘Art vs Art, Legacy and Creation’, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, with choreographer Mui Cheuk Yin, musician Kung Chi Shing and 19 other Hong Kong artists.
Published works:
—— Amblings (poetry in English and Chinese, translated by Kit Kelen, Chris Song Zijiang, Debby Sou Vai Keng and Iris Fan Xing). Macao: Association of Stories in Macao.
—— Liu Yi-chang and Hong Kong Modernism (co-edited with Tam Kwok Kan, Ben Wong and Mary Wong). Hong Kong: Open University Press.
—— Hong Kong Stories in Film (critical essays; series coordinated by Leung Ping Kwan, edited by Hong Kong Literature Research Group under Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University). Hong Kong: Educational Publishing.
—— Artichaut (poetry, in French translation, translated by Annie Curien, paintings by Paul Magendie). Paris: Nihil Obstat.
2011
Postcolonial Affairs of Food and the Heart won the Hong Kong Biennial Award for Chinese Literature (Fiction).
Participated in poetry and art exhibition ‘YYZ Dialogues’, at Lee Ka Sing’s INDEXG Gallery. Seven Toronto artists responded to Leung Ping Kwan’s poetry with art.
Attended Romania International Poetry Festival
Published works:
—— Flavors of the Floating World (prose). Hong Kong: Enrich Publishing; Beijing: Beijing People’s University Press.
—— Hong Kong in the Eyes of Yesi (image-prose). Guangzhou: Flower City Publishing.
—— Ajia no aji: iēsu shishū (A Taste of Asia) (poetry, in Japanese translation, translated by Sadako Ikegami). Tokyo: Shichosha.
—— Hong Kong Literature: Succession and Metamorphosis of Tradition (critical essays, co-edited with Chan Chi Tak and Matthew Cheng). Hong Kong: Infolink Publishing.
—— An Anthology of Hong Kong Short Stories 1949-2007 (co-edited with Yip Fai and Matthew Cheng). Hong Kong: Mingpao Publications and Singapore: Youth Book Company. Awarded the Hong Kong Book Prize.
—— Stories of West New Territories (collection of short stories by Lingnan University students in the Chinese Department; coordinated by Leung Ping Kwan, edited by the Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University). Hong Kong: Educational Publishing.
—— [Anthology of Criticism on Leung Ping Kwan’s Works – Fiction (edited by Chan So Yee). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Critical Review, 400pp.]
2012
Selected as Writer of the Year by the Hong Kong Book Fair, accompanied by the retrospective multi-media exhibition ‘Dialogues in the Humanities’.
Conferred Honorary Doctorate Degree in Literature by the University of Zurich, Switzerland, to honour his literary accomplishments and contributions to the studies of modern Chinese literature.
Poetry reading at Reitberg Museum, Zurich.
Flavors of the Floating World won the Hong Kong Book Prize.
Participated in the ‘Liverpool Biennial 2012’ exhibition with poems in response to the artworks of Chow Chun Fai, Leung Mee Ping, and CoLab x SLOW.
Co-organised the ‘Ghost Festival’ with Oscar Ho, featuring performances, film screenings and conferences.
Published works:
—— Grey Pigeon Mornings (reprint, prose). Taipei: Decode Press.
—— East West Matters (poetry). Beijing: China Drama Press.
—— New Year’s Eve in Kunming (prose). Hefei: Anhui Educational Press.
—— Postcolonial Affairs of Food and the Heart (extended version, fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Postcolonial Affairs of Food and the Heart (fiction, in Korean translation, translated by Song Zhulan). Seoul: ZMANZ.
—— Paper Cut-outs (fiction, third edition after 1982, 2002). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Books and Cities (critical writing). Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press.
—— Ten Lectures on Hong Kong Culture (critical writing). Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press.
—— City at the End of Time (reprint, poetry in English and Chinese, edited by Esther Cheung, translated by Gordon T. Osing and Leung Ping Kwan). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
—— Fly Heads and Bird Claws (poetry in English and Chinese, edited by Christopher Mattison, translated by Brian Holton, John Minford et al., with artwork by Lau Gukzik; about East-West cultures, meditations on life, and human relationships). Hong Kong: MCCM Creations.
—— Sichtbares und Verborgenes (The Visible and Invisible, poetry in German, English and Chinese, edited by Andrea Riemenschnitter, translated by Helen Wallimann and Andrea Riemenschnitter). Hong Kong: MCCM Creations.
—— En ces jours instables (poetry in French and Chinese, translated by Camille Loivier). Hong Kong: MCCM Creations.
—— Mapa Refeito (poetry in Portuguese and Chinese, translated by Beatriz Brasil). Macao: Association of Stories in Macao.
—— Hong Kong Literature and Cinema (co-edited with Mary Wong, Yuki Shum, and Matthew Cheng). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press and Hong Kong Open University Press.
—— An Anthology of Criticism on Liu Yichang’s Works, vol.1 (co-edited with Ben Wong). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Literary Studies Press.
—— [An Anthology of Criticism on Leung Ping Kwan’s Works – Poetry (edited by Chan So Yee). Hong Kong: Click Press, 600pp.]
—— Chinese Poems from Provence (poetry, illustrations by Yip Hiu Man). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. A collection of poems written at Saorge Monastery in Southern France, full of “sunshine and petals”; Leung Ping Kwan’s last book of poetry.
2013
January 5, Leung Ping Kwan passed away peacefully at the Hong Kong Union Hospital from lung cancer.
The University of Hong Kong mounted a poetry exhibition for Leung Ping Kwan at the Main Library titled ‘Good Companion: Leung Ping-kwan’s Hong Kong’, with images from nine Hong Kong photographers.
Published works:
—— Cities and Literature (critical writing). Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press.
—— Leung Ping Kwan’s 1950s: Critical Essays on Hong Kong Literature and Culture (critical writing, Mary Wong, Yuki Shum, Chris Song and Matthew Chang eds.). Hong Kong: Zhong Hua Publishing.
—— Letters between Hong Kong and Tokyo (correspondence between Leung Ping Kwan and Inuhiko Yomota, translated by Han Yanli). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. The book is the Chinese translation of the 2008 Japanese version, Correspondence on Urban Culture: Hong Kong in Focus, about cultural phenomena in Hong Kong and Japan.
—— Bach in the Floating World (prose). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. The last book Leung Ping Kwan edited, about writers, art and literature.
2014
Leung Ping Kwan’s 1950s: Critical Essays on Hong Kong Literature and Culture won the Hong Kong Book Prize.
In January, the Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Department hosted a comprehensive Poetry-Art exhibition for Yasi, titled Leung Ping Kwan (1949-2013): a Retrospective, featuring over a hundred of his poems with corresponding artworks from artist friends to show Yasi’s poetic journey through the world, his cares and concerns, dreams and well-wishes; and published a 260-page poetry-art memorial book.
In September, the On and On Theatre Workshop adapted three stories from Postcolonial Affairs of Food and the Heart into its production, Postcolonial God of Food, performed in Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
Published Works:
—— Selected Works of Hong Kong Contemporary Writers: Leung Ping Kwan (anthology of poems, prose, novels and critical writings), Hong Kong: Cosmos Books.
—— Selected Poems of Leung Ping-kwan, 1963-2012 (anthology of fifty years of poetry by Leung Ping Kwan). Taiwan: National Taiwan University Press.
—— Poetry of Moving Signs (reprint, poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— East West Matters (reprint, poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Vegetable Politics (reprint, poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Chinese Poems from Provence (reprint, poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Journey of the Worry Dolls (reprint, fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Paper Cut-outs (reprint, fiction). Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press.
2015
Selected Poems of Leung Ping-kwan, 1963-2012 (Anthology of 50 years of Leung Ping-kwan's poetry) won the 2015 Hong Kong Book Prize.
Published Works:
—— Film Reviews by Leung Ping-kwan (critical essays, edited by Cheng Ching Heng). Hong Kong: Film Critics Society. A collection of critical essays on films over 40 years.
—— The Prosaic Art of Yasi (Anthology of critical essays on the prose writings of Leung Ping Kwan, edited by Tsang Cheuk Yin). Hong Kong: Joint Publications.
——A Spot of Tea (prose). Hong Kong: Click Press and The Thumb Publications. A collection of early prose writings written in 1977-1978.
Compiled with the assistance of Center for Humanities Research, Lingnan University
Born in Guangdong, China, and moved to Hong Kong with parents the same year. At age 4, father died.
1963
Started to publish poems in The Chinese Student Weekly.
1968
Debuted as a columnist in Hong Kong Times, with a literary column titled ‘Literary Fragments’.
1970
Graduated from the English Department, Hong Kong Baptist College (now Hong Kong Baptist University).
Started literary columns ‘My Writing Room’ and ‘Books and Streets’ in Express Daily (edited by Liu Yi-chang), until 1978.
Published work:
—— Contemporary French Short Stories (co-edited and co-translated with William Tay). Taipei: Chen Chong.
1971
Published work:
—— The New American Writing (editor and translator). Taipei: Huan-yu.
1972
Founded the literary magazine The Four Seasons (1972-1975), the first Chinese-language magazine to introduce and translate Latin American literary masters such as Gabriel García Márquez and Jorge Luis Borges before they were widely known.
Editor of Grove Magazine, an influential magazine of art and literature in Hong Kong.
Published works:
—— Grey Pigeon Mornings (prose). Taipei: Yu-shi. Yasi’s first book of prose, a collection of early essays written between the ages of 16 and 21. Editor Ya Hsien: “Young Yasi brings from Hong Kong a brand new literary language”.
—— Contemporary Latin American Short Stories (editor and translator). Taipei: Huan-yu.
1973
Married novelist Ng Hui Ben.
Editor of the ‘Poetry Page’ in The Chinese Student Weekly, which encouraged writing on Hong Kong issues and day-to-day happenings – a great influence on young poets in Hong Kong.
1974
Son Yeeman born.
1975
Founded The Thumb Weekly (1975-1987), an influential literary journal after The Chinese Student Weekly ceased publication in 1975; served as chief editor until 1978.
Instructor, Extra-mural Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, teaching modern Chinese poetry and novels until 1978.
1977
Wrote a literary column titled ʻA Spot of Teaʼ in Sing Tao Evening News, till 1978.
Wrote and directed the stage play Mouse, performed and produced by editors of The Thumb Weekly at Hong Kong Arts Centre.
1978
Began graduate studies in the Department of Comparative Literature, University of California, San Diego (UCSD).
Published works:
—— The Thunderbolt and the Cicada Song (poetry). Hong Kong: The Thumb Press. His first book of poems, written between the ages of 16 and 29, greatly influenced young poets of both Hong Kong and Taiwan.
—— Myths and Lunches (prose). Taipei: Hung-fan.
—— Selected Stories by The Thumb (co-edited with Fan Chun Feng). Taipei: Yuan-Ching.
1979
Published works:
—— Shimen the Dragon-keeper (fiction). Kao Hsiung: Min Chong Daily. His first book of short stories, humourous and imaginative.
—— Short Stories by Hong Kong Young Writers (co-edited with William Tay). Taipei: Min Chong Daily.
1981
Published work:
—— Landscapes and Portraits (prose, edited by Liu Yi-chang). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Literature Research Centre.
1982
Published work:
—— Paper Cut-outs (fiction). Hong Kong: Su Yeh Literature. Serialised fiction, first published in Express Daily in 1977; the first Chinese-language novel with elements of magical realism, about two similar/different girls at the juncture of tradition and modernity, and their obsessions and loves. Second edition published in 2003, third edition in 2012, fourth edition in 2014.
1983
Brief return to Hong Kong from California (82-83 summer). Started to write the ‘Lotus Leaves Series’ (1983-1999), about human relationships and the political situation in Hong Kong (such as the impending 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration and the 1997 Handover). Returned to the USA in the fall.
1984
Returned to Hong Kong after completing PhD degree in Comparative Literature at UCSD. His doctoral dissertation Aesthetics of Opposition: A Study of the Modernist Generation of Chinese Poets. 1936-1949 was an important contribution to the study of Modern Chinese Literature.
Poetry and art exhibition ‘Journey’ at Zuni Ichosahedron.
1985
Daughter Anwen born.
Started teaching at the University of Hong Kong in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, until 1997.
Choreographer Sunny Pang adapted Journey into a modern dance programme, ‘Dance．Literature’.
Poetry and art exhibition ‘Journey’ with artist Donna Lok at the Institute for the Promotion of Chinese Culture.
Published works:
—— Journey (poetry; etching by Donna Lok). Hong Kong: Institute for the Promotion of Chinese Culture.
—— Lights and Shadows (prose). Hong Kong: SCMP Book Publishing.
—— Books and Cities (critical writing). Hong Kong: Xiangjiang Publishing.
1986
Dialogue among Poetry, Dance and Painting, a collaboration with choreographer Sunny Pang and artist Choi Yan Chi based on the ‘Lotus Leaves Series’ at the Fine Arts Department Workshop, the University of Hong Kong.
1987
RTHK ‘Fiction Family’ Series adapted the short story ‘The Pocket Watch of Auntie Lee’ into a television drama.
Published works:
—— City Notes (prose). Taipei: Tong Ta Books.
—— Islands and Continents (fiction). Hong Kong: Chinese Culture Publishing. Stories of people from Hong Kong drifting between old and new continents.
1988
Published work:
—— Three Fish (fiction). Hong Kong: Tian Yuan Books. A collection of three novellas.
1989
Participated in ‘Object-act-ivities’, a poetry-art-dance-installation exhibition with Choi Yan Chi, Mui Cheuk Yin, and others, across three nights, from object-poetry to activities in memory of those who died in the Tiananmen Incident, contemplating repression and freedom.
Published works:
—— Selected Works of Leung Ping Kwan. Hong Kong: Joint Publishing. A selection of poetry, prose and fiction.
—— Leong Ka Tai on China: One to Twenty Four. Hong Kong: CAMERA 22 LTD. A collection of 24 poems by Leung Ping Kwan and images by Leong Ka Tai.
1990
Poetry and photography exhibition with Lee Ka Sing at Hong Kong City Hall.
Awarded grant from Goethe-Institut Hong Kong to visit Berlin and East Europe.
Published works:
—— The Mountain is the Mind: Selected Poems and Prose by Gary Snyder (co-edited and co-translated with Lin Yao Fu). Taipei: UNITAS Publishing.
—— Postcards from Prague (fiction). Hong Kong: Chuangjian. Stories about Eastern Europe in the face of new political issues, reflecting on the changes of China and Hong Kong.
1991
Postcards from Prague won the Hong Kong Biennial Award for Chinese Literature (Fiction) presented by the Hong Kong Urban Council.
Awarded grant from Asian Cultural Council to conduct research on film and literature in New York for half a year.
Published work:
—— Red-beak Seagulls of Kunming (prose). Hong Kong: Breakthrough. A collection of prose about changes in China between 1984, when it opened up for reforms, and 1989, when everything suddenly stopped after the Tiananmen Incident.
1992
Conferred Artist of the Year Award by the Hong Kong Artists Guild.
Published work:
—— City at the End of Time (poetry, bilingual edition in English and Chinese co-edited and co-translated with Gordon T. Osing). Hong Kong: Department of Comparative Literature, The University of Hong Kong & Twilight Books. A book about the change and anxiety in Hong Kong leading up to the 1997 Handover. The photograph for the book cover, City at the End of Time by Lee Ka Sing is in the collection of the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography.
1993
Made video At the North Point Car Ferry Pier (47 min). A documentary with fictional characters, on the different levels of North Point history, and the disappearing memories.
Published works:
—— Popular Culture in Hong Kong (critical writing, editor). Hong Kong: Joint Publishing.
—— Cities of Memory, Cities of Fabrication (fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. Serialised novel, originally published in Express Daily in 1983 titled Journey of the Worry Dolls; about Leung Ping Kwan’s odyssey home after years of absence through Paris, San Francisco and New York with small Guatemalan Worry Dolls to give to friends to relieve their worries.
1994
Collaborated with choreographer Mui Cheuk Yin on a cross-disciplinary performance Shadow of Flowers based on the novel Paper Cut-outs.
Participated in ‘Art in June’ joint exhibition, Hong Kong Arts Centre.
Participated in the exhibition, ‘Hong Kong Sixties: Designing Identity’, curated by Oscar Ho and Matthew Turner, which explored the cultural identification of Hong Kong in the 60s through design.
Published works:
—— Cultural Scrapbook of the Sixties (editor). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Arts Centre.
—— Searching for Space: Selected Stories (fiction). Beijing: Beijing University Press.
1995
Visiting scholar, York University, Canada, giving lectures on Hong Kong Literature and Chinese Literature.
Participated in ‘Camera Work’ joint exhibition, The Hong Kong Fringe Club.
Published works:
—— Poetry of Moving Signs (poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. Poems written when Leung Ping Kwan left home for other cities; he felt his poems did not have a home either.
—— Floating Weeds: Selected Poems (poetry). Beijing: Zhongguo Wenlian.
—— Hong Kong Culture (critical writing). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Arts Centre.
—— Midway: Selected Poems of Leung Ping Kwan (poetry). Hong Kong: Writers’ Publications.
1996
Midway: Selected Poems of Leung Ping Kwan won the Hong Kong Biennial Award for Chinese Literature (Poetry).
Editor of Cultural Perspectives Series (1996-2001), which published 20 books of creative writing and cultural studies by contemporary Hong Kong writers. Hong Kong: Youth Literary Bookstore.
Poetry-installation exhibition, ‘Engaging Tradition II - Relocation of History’, with artist Lam Kong at the University Museum, The University of Hong Kong; a response to the Chinese art collection of the Museum, some poems were written from the perspective of the antique fragments.
Published works:
—— Museum Pieces (poetry). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Arts Centre.
—— Hong Kong Cultural Space and Literature (critical writing). Hong Kong: Youth Literary Bookstore
—— Letters across Borders (prose). Hong Kong: Youth Literary Bookstore. Cross-boundary cultural observations and reflections about the East and West.
—— Journey of the Worry Dolls (fiction). Guilin: Lijiang Publishing. Stories about Leung Ping Kwan’s odyssey home after years of absence through Paris, San Francisco and New York with small Guatemala Worry Dolls to give to friends to relieve their worries. Reprint of The City of Memory．The City of Fabrication (1993).
1997
Made video Moving Home (25 min), a documentary about the complex feelings towards the 1997 Handover; shown at the Hong Kong International Film Festival and London Film Festival.
Participated in multimedia performance Unsettled Spirits with Kung Chi Shing, Mui Cheuk Yin, Priscilla Leung, and Oscar Ho at Hong Kong Arts Centre and in Berlin.
Participated in the ‘The Metropolis – Visual Research into Contemporary Hong Kong’, an exhibition curated by Wong Wo Bik at Hong Kong Arts Centre with Hong Kong photographers to explore the changes of different regions of Hong Kong with poetry and images, resulting in the publication of a book by the same name.
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘Foodscape’ with Lee Ka Sing at Artspeak Gallery, Toronto. The exhibition was an answer to the questions about 1997, and an exploration of culture and history through food.
Chair Professor of Comparative Literature in the Department of Chinese at Lingnan University, and Director of the Centre for Humanities Research, from 1997 to 2013.
Chief editor of JMLC (Journal of Modern Literature in Chinese), published by the Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University, an important bilingual publication founded in 1997 for the study of modern literature in Chinese.
Published work:
—— Foodscape (poetry; bilingual edition in Chinese and English, translated by Martha Cheung, images by Lee Ka Sing). Hong Kong: The Original Photograph Club Limited.
1998
Writer in Residence, Berlin, with a grant from DAAD Research Fund (Germany) to research German history and culture, resulting in the book, Walking in Berlin (2002).
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘Foodscape II’ with Lee Ka Sing at the Goethe-Institut Gallery, Hong Kong.
Organised a mock fashion show ‘Clothink’ with Wessie Ling at Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre to explore different aspects of pop culture.
Published works:
—— Clothink (poetry and installation exhibition catalogue, fashion and images by Wessie Ling, bilingual Chinese and English edition, translated by John Minford, Jasmine Tong et al.). Hong Kong: Youth Literary Bookstore.
—— Selected Short Stories of Hong Kong from the 1960s (editor). Hong Kong: Cosmos Books.
2000
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘Foodscape III’ with Lee Ka Sing at Tokyo Rou-un-ki Aki-ex Gallery.
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘Foodscape IV’ with Lee Ka Sing at Munich Ruffini Kultur.
Poetry reading in Berlin.
Poetry and mixed media performance Strange Stories of Flowers and Birds with musician Kung Chi Shing and video artist Ann Mak at Goethe-Institut Hong Kong.
Published works:
—— Seltsame Geschichten von Vögeln und Blumen (poetry, in German translation, translated by Wolfgang Kubin). Hong Kong: Goethe-Institut.
—— Von Politik und den Früchten des Feldes (poetry, in German translation, translated by Wolfgang Kubin). Berlin: DAAD Berliner Künstlerprogramm.
—— East West Matters (poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Moon across Borders (prose). Hangzhou: Zhejiang Literary Press.
—— Postcards from Prague (image-fiction, expanded version of the 1991 edition, images by Almond Chu et al., edited by Ann Mak). Hong Kong: Youth Literary Bookstore.
2001
Visiting Scholar, Heidelberg University, Germany, lecturing on Hong Kong Literature.
Published work:
—— Îles et Continents (fiction, French translation of Island and Continents, edited and translated by Annie Curien). Paris: Gallimard.
2002
Participated in poetry and installation exhibition ‘Taste of Asia’ curated by Kan Tai Keung and Freeman Lau in the New Vision Arts Festival, where 8 Asian artists designed small ‘food boxes’ featuring the national dish of their countries. Leung Ping Kwan wrote poems exploring the relationships between food and culture for each dish, placed inside the boxes.
Published works:
—— Travelling with a Bitter Melon (selected poems 1973-1998, in English and Chinese, edited and translated by Martha Cheung, preface by Rey Chow). Hong Kong: Asia 2000.
—— Walking in Berlin (prose). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— New Fruits from Taiwan (prose). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Street Portraits (extended version of Landscapes and Portraits, prose). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— New Year’s Eve in Kunming (prose, extended version of Red-beak Seagulls of Kunming published in 1991). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Light and Shadows (reprint, prose). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Islands and Continents (reprint, fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Shimen the Dragon-keeper (reprint, fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Books and Cities (reprint, fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Rereading Eileen Chang (co-edited with Joseph Lau and Xu Zidong). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
2003
Visiting scholar, Tokyo University, lecturing on Hong Kong Literature and urban literature.
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘Food and the City’ at The Foreign Correspondents’ Club, Hong Kong.
Poetry and installation exhibition ‘2, 3 things about Hong Kong’ with Lee Ka Sing and anothermountainman, CityU Gallery, City University of Hong Kong.
Published works:
—— Walking in Berlin (prose). Beijing: Joint Publishing.
—— Paper Cut-outs (reprint, fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
2004
Visiting scholar, Zurich University; organised a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary workshop with Professor Andrea Riemenschnitter on Swiss myths and legends, resulting in the book Legends from the Swiss Alps (co-edited with Andre Riemenschnitter), a collection of 75 legends translated by Zurich University students into Chinese (2009).
Poetry-photography-installation exhibition ‘Hong Kong Foodscape’ with Millie Chen and Lee Ka Sing at Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
Choreographer Mui Cheuk Yin, composer Fréderic Blin, and vocalist Priscilla Leung adapted Leung Ping Kwan’s ‘Lotus Leaves Series’ into the dance-music-vocal production Lot．us, performed in the New Vision Arts Festival, and then in France and Germany.
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘East West Matters’ and poetry reading at Bern Raum Gallery, Switzerland.
Poetry and photography exhibition ‘East West Matters’ in Frankfurt Museum of Applied Art.
Poetry reading, Paris.
Poetry reading, Reitberg Museum, Zurich.
Lecture, Geneva Library.
Published work:
—— The Language of Fruits and Vegetables, designed by Lee Ka Sing, a dialogue between the poem ‘Green Salad’ by Leung Ping Kwan and 252 photos by Lee Ka Sing, part of the poetry- photography-installation exhibition ‘Hong Kong Foodscape’ at Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
2005
‘Cityscape．People．Food’ photography exhibition at Joint Publishing Exhibition Hall, Hong Kong.
Published works:
—— Yasi’s Hong Kong (prose). Hong Kong: Joint Publishing.
—— Studies of Modern Poetry in Chinese (co-edited with Chan Ping Leung and Chan Chi Tak). Hong Kong: Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University.
—— An Annotated Bibliography of Hong Kong Cinema Adapted from Literature (co-edited with Mary Wong). Hong Kong: Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University.
2006
Conferred Medal of Honour by the Hong Kong SAR Government.
Awarded Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research at Harvard University.
Writer in Residence, Saorge Monastery in Nice, Southern France
Poetry and photography exhibition (images by Lee Ka Sing) at Saorge Monastery.
Invited among 100 writers around the world to participate in the ‘Table for Free Voices Forum’ in Bebelplatz Square, Berlin, in memory of 10 May 1933 when the Nazi Party burned 20,000 books in an attempt to suppress free thinking.
Literary consultant to the Chinese opera Recollection of Dreams about the dramatist Tang Xianzu writing his play The Peony Pavilion.
Published works:
—— De ci de là des choses (poetry, in French translation, translated and edited by Annie Curien). Paris: Youfeng. The book was the result of the poetry and photography exhibition with Lee Ka Sing in Paris, 2004.
—— Vegetable Politics (poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— East Asian Culture & Modern Literature in Chinese (critical essays, co-edited with Amanda Hsu). Hong Kong: Mingpao Publications.
2007
Published work:
—— Islands and Continents (fiction, in English translation, translated and edited by John Minford with Brian Holton and Agnes Chan Hung-Chong). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
2008
Writer in Residence at Saorge Monastery for the second time, accompanied by daughter, wrote poems full of “sunshine and petals”, later collected in Chinese Poems in Provence (2012).
Poetry reading in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Poetry reading in Basel, Switzerland.
Poetry reading in Zurich, Switzerland.
Published works:
—— Correspondences on Urban Culture: Hong Kong in Focus (correspondences with Inuhiko Yomota about cultural phenomena in Hong Kong and Japan, in Japanese, translated by Sadako Ikegami). Tokyo: Iwanami Shaten.
—— The Filmic Art of King Hu (co-edited with Hu Weiyao). Hong Kong: Mingpao Publications.
—— Writing about Hong Kong@Literary Stories (critical essays; series coordinated by Leung Ping Kwan, edited by Hong Kong Literature Research Group under Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University). Hong Kong: Educational Publishing. Awarded the 2008 Hong Kong Book Prize.
—— Creative Writing with Pai Hsien-yung: Notes of Literary Creative Workshop at Lingnan University (series coordinated by Leung Ping Kwan, edited by Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University). Hong Kong: Educational Publishing.
2009
Participated in ‘Swiss-China Cultural Explorations (2008-2010)’ organised by Pro Helvetia, Switzerland.
Participated in cross-disciplinary theatre series ‘Passion of Body Art’ which explores the culture of sports and body form from the perspective of the body, and directed one story Three Sections.
Published works:
—— Postcolonial Affairs of Food and the Heart (fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. A novel with comedic and even absurd elements to portray people facing various changes after 1997, written from the perspectives of food and love.
—— The Thunderbolt and the Cicada Song (reprint, poetry). Hong Kong: Click Press.
—— Journeys across Borders: Selected Stories (fiction). Hong Kong: Mingpao Publications.
—— Von Jade und Holz (poetry, in German translation, translated by Wolfgang Kubin). Klagenfurt/Celovec: Drava Verlag.
—— Shifting Borders (poetry, in English and Chinese, translated by Christopher Kelen, Leung Ping Kwan, Chris Song Zijiang and Debby Sou Vai Keng). Macao: Association of Stories in Macao.
—— Hong Kong Urban Culture & Urban Literature (a collection of critical essays for the Frankfurt Book Fair, co-edited with Amanda Hsu and Lee Hoi Lam). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Story Association.
—— Legends from the Swiss Alps (a collection of Swiss myths translated into Chinese by Zurich University students, co-edited with Andrea Riemenschnitter). Hong Kong: MCCM Creations. The book was the result of a cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary workshop on myths and legends organised by Professor Andrea Riemenschnitter and Leung Ping Kwan when he was the visiting scholar at Zurich University in the summer of 2004.
2010
Conferred Best Artist Award (Literary Arts) by Hong Kong Arts Development Council.
Attended ‘Festivala Literature Sveta ¡X Fabula 2010’ in Slovenia.
Group Exhibition: ‘Art vs Art, Legacy and Creation’, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, with choreographer Mui Cheuk Yin, musician Kung Chi Shing and 19 other Hong Kong artists.
Published works:
—— Amblings (poetry in English and Chinese, translated by Kit Kelen, Chris Song Zijiang, Debby Sou Vai Keng and Iris Fan Xing). Macao: Association of Stories in Macao.
—— Liu Yi-chang and Hong Kong Modernism (co-edited with Tam Kwok Kan, Ben Wong and Mary Wong). Hong Kong: Open University Press.
—— Hong Kong Stories in Film (critical essays; series coordinated by Leung Ping Kwan, edited by Hong Kong Literature Research Group under Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University). Hong Kong: Educational Publishing.
—— Artichaut (poetry, in French translation, translated by Annie Curien, paintings by Paul Magendie). Paris: Nihil Obstat.
2011
Postcolonial Affairs of Food and the Heart won the Hong Kong Biennial Award for Chinese Literature (Fiction).
Participated in poetry and art exhibition ‘YYZ Dialogues’, at Lee Ka Sing’s INDEXG Gallery. Seven Toronto artists responded to Leung Ping Kwan’s poetry with art.
Attended Romania International Poetry Festival
Published works:
—— Flavors of the Floating World (prose). Hong Kong: Enrich Publishing; Beijing: Beijing People’s University Press.
—— Hong Kong in the Eyes of Yesi (image-prose). Guangzhou: Flower City Publishing.
—— Ajia no aji: iēsu shishū (A Taste of Asia) (poetry, in Japanese translation, translated by Sadako Ikegami). Tokyo: Shichosha.
—— Hong Kong Literature: Succession and Metamorphosis of Tradition (critical essays, co-edited with Chan Chi Tak and Matthew Cheng). Hong Kong: Infolink Publishing.
—— An Anthology of Hong Kong Short Stories 1949-2007 (co-edited with Yip Fai and Matthew Cheng). Hong Kong: Mingpao Publications and Singapore: Youth Book Company. Awarded the Hong Kong Book Prize.
—— Stories of West New Territories (collection of short stories by Lingnan University students in the Chinese Department; coordinated by Leung Ping Kwan, edited by the Centre for Humanities Research, Lingnan University). Hong Kong: Educational Publishing.
—— [Anthology of Criticism on Leung Ping Kwan’s Works – Fiction (edited by Chan So Yee). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Critical Review, 400pp.]
2012
Selected as Writer of the Year by the Hong Kong Book Fair, accompanied by the retrospective multi-media exhibition ‘Dialogues in the Humanities’.
Conferred Honorary Doctorate Degree in Literature by the University of Zurich, Switzerland, to honour his literary accomplishments and contributions to the studies of modern Chinese literature.
Poetry reading at Reitberg Museum, Zurich.
Flavors of the Floating World won the Hong Kong Book Prize.
Participated in the ‘Liverpool Biennial 2012’ exhibition with poems in response to the artworks of Chow Chun Fai, Leung Mee Ping, and CoLab x SLOW.
Co-organised the ‘Ghost Festival’ with Oscar Ho, featuring performances, film screenings and conferences.
Published works:
—— Grey Pigeon Mornings (reprint, prose). Taipei: Decode Press.
—— East West Matters (poetry). Beijing: China Drama Press.
—— New Year’s Eve in Kunming (prose). Hefei: Anhui Educational Press.
—— Postcolonial Affairs of Food and the Heart (extended version, fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Postcolonial Affairs of Food and the Heart (fiction, in Korean translation, translated by Song Zhulan). Seoul: ZMANZ.
—— Paper Cut-outs (fiction, third edition after 1982, 2002). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Books and Cities (critical writing). Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press.
—— Ten Lectures on Hong Kong Culture (critical writing). Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press.
—— City at the End of Time (reprint, poetry in English and Chinese, edited by Esther Cheung, translated by Gordon T. Osing and Leung Ping Kwan). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
—— Fly Heads and Bird Claws (poetry in English and Chinese, edited by Christopher Mattison, translated by Brian Holton, John Minford et al., with artwork by Lau Gukzik; about East-West cultures, meditations on life, and human relationships). Hong Kong: MCCM Creations.
—— Sichtbares und Verborgenes (The Visible and Invisible, poetry in German, English and Chinese, edited by Andrea Riemenschnitter, translated by Helen Wallimann and Andrea Riemenschnitter). Hong Kong: MCCM Creations.
—— En ces jours instables (poetry in French and Chinese, translated by Camille Loivier). Hong Kong: MCCM Creations.
—— Mapa Refeito (poetry in Portuguese and Chinese, translated by Beatriz Brasil). Macao: Association of Stories in Macao.
—— Hong Kong Literature and Cinema (co-edited with Mary Wong, Yuki Shum, and Matthew Cheng). Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press and Hong Kong Open University Press.
—— An Anthology of Criticism on Liu Yichang’s Works, vol.1 (co-edited with Ben Wong). Hong Kong: Hong Kong Literary Studies Press.
—— [An Anthology of Criticism on Leung Ping Kwan’s Works – Poetry (edited by Chan So Yee). Hong Kong: Click Press, 600pp.]
—— Chinese Poems from Provence (poetry, illustrations by Yip Hiu Man). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. A collection of poems written at Saorge Monastery in Southern France, full of “sunshine and petals”; Leung Ping Kwan’s last book of poetry.
2013
January 5, Leung Ping Kwan passed away peacefully at the Hong Kong Union Hospital from lung cancer.
The University of Hong Kong mounted a poetry exhibition for Leung Ping Kwan at the Main Library titled ‘Good Companion: Leung Ping-kwan’s Hong Kong’, with images from nine Hong Kong photographers.
Published works:
—— Cities and Literature (critical writing). Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press.
—— Leung Ping Kwan’s 1950s: Critical Essays on Hong Kong Literature and Culture (critical writing, Mary Wong, Yuki Shum, Chris Song and Matthew Chang eds.). Hong Kong: Zhong Hua Publishing.
—— Letters between Hong Kong and Tokyo (correspondence between Leung Ping Kwan and Inuhiko Yomota, translated by Han Yanli). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. The book is the Chinese translation of the 2008 Japanese version, Correspondence on Urban Culture: Hong Kong in Focus, about cultural phenomena in Hong Kong and Japan.
—— Bach in the Floating World (prose). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. The last book Leung Ping Kwan edited, about writers, art and literature.
2014
Leung Ping Kwan’s 1950s: Critical Essays on Hong Kong Literature and Culture won the Hong Kong Book Prize.
In January, the Hong Kong Leisure and Cultural Services Department hosted a comprehensive Poetry-Art exhibition for Yasi, titled Leung Ping Kwan (1949-2013): a Retrospective, featuring over a hundred of his poems with corresponding artworks from artist friends to show Yasi’s poetic journey through the world, his cares and concerns, dreams and well-wishes; and published a 260-page poetry-art memorial book.
In September, the On and On Theatre Workshop adapted three stories from Postcolonial Affairs of Food and the Heart into its production, Postcolonial God of Food, performed in Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
Published Works:
—— Selected Works of Hong Kong Contemporary Writers: Leung Ping Kwan (anthology of poems, prose, novels and critical writings), Hong Kong: Cosmos Books.
—— Selected Poems of Leung Ping-kwan, 1963-2012 (anthology of fifty years of poetry by Leung Ping Kwan). Taiwan: National Taiwan University Press.
—— Poetry of Moving Signs (reprint, poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— East West Matters (reprint, poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Vegetable Politics (reprint, poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Chinese Poems from Provence (reprint, poetry). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Journey of the Worry Dolls (reprint, fiction). Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
—— Paper Cut-outs (reprint, fiction). Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press.
2015
Selected Poems of Leung Ping-kwan, 1963-2012 (Anthology of 50 years of Leung Ping-kwan's poetry) won the 2015 Hong Kong Book Prize.
Published Works:
—— Film Reviews by Leung Ping-kwan (critical essays, edited by Cheng Ching Heng). Hong Kong: Film Critics Society. A collection of critical essays on films over 40 years.
—— The Prosaic Art of Yasi (Anthology of critical essays on the prose writings of Leung Ping Kwan, edited by Tsang Cheuk Yin). Hong Kong: Joint Publications.
——A Spot of Tea (prose). Hong Kong: Click Press and The Thumb Publications. A collection of early prose writings written in 1977-1978.
Compiled with the assistance of Center for Humanities Research, Lingnan University
Recommended Collection
Recommended Exhibition
