Brought to you by the University of Liverpool
It has been almost 3 years since the global pandemic irrevocably changed society, and the scrutiny under which Chinese communities across the world have been placed will doubtlessly continue. Throughout 2021 and during its multiple lock-downs, I regularly gathered a small group of Chinese community members for creative writing sessions led by British Chinese creative writers including Mary-Jean Chan, Jenny Wong and Kit Fan. The outputs from the sessions which you can read on this webpage formed contributions to Culture Liverpool’s Year of Writing 2021.
Creative writing can offer a space of reprieve, a place of solace where the process of carefully chosen words, perhaps mulled over many times, provides a balm for confusion and loss and where bonds can be forged in the cultural memory of collective experience. The poems in this collection celebrate some of the work of this small group of creative writers. They depict transcendent love, self-conscious nostalgia, and inherited forms of migratory displacement. Some of the poems use Mandarin to reflect the in-between possibilities of thinking and feeling in another language other than English, others embrace the tension between newness and strangeness that coalesces around points of departure and arrival. Many of the poems speak about home: whether imagined or real, faraway or near, here, there and perhaps everywhere in between. A short film based on a poem written during the workshops is also included.
I would like to thank Rebecca Ross-Williams from Everyman & Playhouse Theatres and Adele Spiers from Sola Arts for helping to create and curate the series of workshops which took place in 2021.
I very much hope you enjoy reading the creative work below as part of the city’s Chinese New Year celebrations for the Year of the Dragon 2024!
Dr. Lucienne Loh
Department of English
University of Liverpool
Committing Anachronisms in the Name of Love
By Weng U Pun
The baby winks,
soft lids squeezed,
plump palms poised.
The father curls close,
his face enraptured,
pupils love-dilated.
The mother collects,
a sweet second saved,
precious youth preserved.
The daughter observes
and time relents,
even eternity extends.
Self Portrait Age 9
By Ozzie Yue
Studying for my 11plus exam/ thinking how lucky I am/could I have asked for more/ a classroom on the top floor/ could I ask for a better view/ to help me to study to/the River Mersey/ ships come and go/ Cunard passenger liners from North America/ and Blue Funnel (“Lam Ming Tung”) ships from the Far East bring cargo/on board “Jung Gwok Ren”/men/ from China/hoping to apply for legal entry/ to forge a new life/in a land of “plenty”.
Needless to say with this inspiration/ I passed my examination.
Self-portrait
By Marylyn Wong
I look into the mirror / black eyes black hair / yellow skin / papa told mama I should go to Chinese school / mama said we speak Cantonese / papa said she needs to learn to read and write in Chinese / first day in school / black eyes black hair / dark skin / all the Chinese kids said / you are not Chinese / my surname is 黄 / no! you are not 黄 you are 黑 / I am home / I am quiet / I have no tears / how are you in school today my dear? / mama turns on the tv / I am watching Sesame Street and learning ABC / I have to finish my homework / 横竖撇捺点提 / mama, I don’t understand / what does that mean / mama cannot help you my dear / mama bought me / a lot of 故事书, 画报，字典………… / popo how do you learn to read? / you told me you had never / been to school / I learnt by myself, my dear! / I learnt to read by looking / at subtitles on 粤剧 / I have lots of friends in my 故事书 / people now call these friends 闺蜜 / I brought my 闺蜜 with me on a plane / I am alone but am I truly alone on this journey / I step on a land called 中国 and study 中文系 / one day I will look into the mirror / I will only see 我
Self Portrait 20
By Fenfen Huang
Full of dreams and courage, I decided to leave my homeland and family Experience a totally strange world knowing no one
Parents were not totally behind my idea initially
Stubborn and determined, I left them with no options
They made a big sacrifice to fulfil my dream
Of studying aboard, living in another country
Mother cried nearly daily missing me mad
Wechat or Whatsapp did not exist
Video calls were not a thing
International calls cost fortune
Homesick called upon me often
Had to learn to do everything by myself
Excited and bold, I lived an independent life on a foreign land
I started my new journey without knowing what was ahead
Learning different cultures, making new friends
I discovered the wild side of me, which was never known to me
Lost in translation, English learned in China was far from being sufficient comprehending my lectures and the scouse accent was beyond my ability
Had to be thick-skinned, not afraid of making mistakes
I survived by guessing and people’s patience.
Took up part-time jobs in restaurants and bars, tired and sleepy regularly
But I was exhilarated to mingle with local people and support myself financially
Sweet 20
Fearless and determined 20
I envy the energy you had
I am proud of your courage
Fare Well, Jade Bangle
By Fenfen Huang
A farewell gift from my aunt
On my departure to the UK
Smooth and ice cold
Pure beauty of emerald green, translucent carving
Precious and sentimental, I cherish it dearly
Changes of its colour signalling health condition
Absorbing bad chi and turning darker
Part belief, part doubt
I wore it every single day
One year later out of the blue
The bangle cracked and fell
Instead of a loop, smashed pieces
Heartbroken, I never thought it could be a bad omen
For not long after, I lost my aunt for good
If I knew what the broken bangle foreshadowed
I would have done everything to piece it back together
Even though it would no longer have been impeccable
Farewell, jade bangle
Farewell, my dear aunt
Farewell
Baking Apple Pies
By Yvonne Foley
Four doors away from home, the smell greeted me
I knew mam was home
Cooking up a storm – she had been given apples
bags of them
Cotton apron over her best cotton dress both crisp
and clean-smelling, ready for action
Baking tins greased, filled with fluffy white pastry
when the tins ran out the plates were brought in
In would go the apples some with currants and cloves
the smell was wonderful
When all ready to fill the baking pans and plates of pastry
the waiting was painful, waiting for the pies to be cooked
The warmth and smell in the kitchen went right through
the house and beyond
A homely feeling, secure and safe, then came the taste
the first pie out from the oven
The one with cloves still tasted sweet as we waited for the others
to cook took all day
As once mam got cooking her pies nothing else mattered for
the rest of that day
Warm smells of pasty my mams cotton dress made me feel
safe and truly blessed
Now for the wash up to be done with smiles mums cotton apron on me
for action pots pans and baking tins washed till they gleamed
These are the memory of mam in my dreams.
Dance 舞蹈
By Pei Tong
I want to play a game with you.
A game that speaks culture and tradition.
“ Satu ” that represent “ Saya ”.
Make a shape and make another one.
高 and low,
快 and slow
Paste them together and you make a 身体语言 that belongs to you.
Something that you can share with me without boundaries.
If we can get everybody to 玩游戏
We soon know , we 我们 all could dance together without borders.
Would you kindly join me.
Qing Ming at Liverpool
By Walter Fung
The coach arrives at 1.45pm to leave for the cemeteries promptly at 2.00pm. A small group of volunteers stream out of the See Yep Association building carefully carrying a whole roasted pig and other goodies to offer the ancestors. The goodies are accompanied by a large box of assorted flowers.
A group of Chinese people, many quite elderly, gather to board the coach, but first we pose for a group photograph. This completed, we are off to make the short journey of about eight miles to the two Chinese cemeteries in Anfield and Everton – but nothing to do with the football teams!
The first stop is at the northern gates of Anfield Cemetery. People get off, the elderly move very slowly, and make their way down the path to the Chinese Cenotaph about 400 yards away. The volunteers carry the roast pig, a small collapsible table, flowers and the other items for the service.
We assemble at the Chinese Cenotaph, ‘dedicated to the memory of all Chinese who have died in Great Britain’. It is a poignant monument, because many intended, eventually, to return home to China. The table is set up on which are placed the roasted pig, some fruit, some cakes and three rice bowls together with three pairs of chopsticks. People become silent when the Chairman of the Association or other senior official produces a paper from which he reads a dedication to those departed relatives and friends who lie here. Everybody is included in the dedication, not just those from the See Yep area (Four Counties) of Guangdong province. He speaks in Cantonese, but some words, I do not understand. I am told the dedication is spoken in a more formal and stylised speech.
We pour wine on to the ground. This is believed to be a token for heaven and earth. We burn paper money to ensure that the ancestors are not destitute but live comfortably in the next world.
Then everybody bows together three times in front of the Cenotaph. It is a solemn and moving service, most of those present have close relations buried in here. Then everybody takes a handful of flowers to place on to the graves. There are about 600 graves here and at least one flower is placed on each and every one.
Anfield Cemetery is especially significant and interesting because it contains bodies of five men from the Chinese Labour Corps of World War One and the remains of about 30 Chinese sailors who served in the Dutch Merchant Navy during World War Two. Also here is a Chinese Martyr of the 1911 Republican Revolution.
Then it is back to the coach and on to Everton Cemetery where the entire proceedings will be repeated in front of the Chinese Cenotaph there. We chat noisily but we are Chinese and are never rowdy. Many believe precisely in what they are doing, some do not, but go through the ritual faithfully because it is an integral part of Chinese culture and heritage and a sacred duty of loyalty to our forebears.
The services completed, we travel back to the See Yep building, where the roasted pig is cut into small pieces and is served to everyone, together with Chinese dumplings and cakes. They taste so delicious. Then for some it is time for Mah Jong, whilst others socialise to catch-up on events.
Farewell Jade Bangle
By Fenfen Huang
The following poem film is Fenfen’s personal tribute to her late Aunt. The film was selected for three international film festivals last year and has been screened in California, USA and London, UK.
