有冇人識解讀下?
【史上最年輕冠軍! 19歲 #香港 學生獲英國國家詩比賽冠軍】
2021年 #英國國家詩比賽 (National Poetry Competition)昨(31日)公布獲獎名單。來自香港的 #劍橋大學 經濟系大一學生Eric Yip憑藉《Fricatives》一詩奪冠,年僅19歲的他成為該獎項有史以來 #最年輕 的冠軍。在詩中,Eric Yip以一個留學生的視角,結合香港政治環境背景,討論了殖民主義、種族、移民、歸屬感及背井離鄉的負罪感等議題。
「《Fricatives》是一首極其雄心勃勃、非常優美的詩歌,它將讀者置於一個第二語言是英文的學生的位置。」評委之一的英國詩人Fiona Benson表示,「這是一個關於在不安中被同化、關於政府監視的,充滿力量卻又脆弱的故事。」她認為這首詩將「正確的發音、良好的外國教育、驕傲的父母」與「底層政治犯、危機與殘酷」相比較,使詩充滿張力。
接受《衛報》採訪時,Eric Yip表示,他對贏得比賽感到非常震驚。「詩絕對是一種藝術,隨著年齡的增長,你會變得更好,因為你會有更多的生活經歷。你會閱讀更多,也會寫得更多。」Yip表示。作為一名19歲的學生,他認為自己還有許多需要學習的地方,而「這次勝利是一個開始,是對我繼續寫作和不斷進步的一個鼓勵。」
作為一個會說粵語和普通話,但選擇用英文寫詩的作者,Eric Yip認為美籍越南裔詩人王鷗行 (Ocean Vuong)的經歷給他很大啟發,讓他意識到自己「 #有權被聽到 」。
「你幾乎會感到有點內疚,因為當你用英文寫作時,當你寫下關於香港,關於你的家鄉和自己的文化時,你是在積極進行翻譯工作,」Yip說,「這是我非常清楚的事情,也是我想要探索的主題之一。」
作為冠軍得主,Eric Yip將獲得5000英鎊(約合5.14萬港幣)的獎金。連同其他9位獲獎者,他的作品已於詩協會網站上發表。英國國家詩比賽始於1978年,過往獲勝者包括 #艾略特詩獎 得主Sinead Morrissey, #英國桂冠詩人 Carol Ann Duffy等人。
https://poetrysociety.org.uk/poems/fricatives/
Fricatives
Eric Yip
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.