The Donald Windham Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prizes
1 appearances
-
Edition 10 (2022) Winner
Wong May
ウォン・メイ
Wong May
Pen Names:
May Wong（Alternative rendering sometimes used in publications and credits）
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1944-01-01 （Chongqing, China）
- Nationality
- China, Singapore (former)
- Languages
- English, Chinese
- Residence History
- Chongqing (birth) → Singapore (moved 1950; grew up) → Dublin, Ireland (current residence)
Career
- Occupations
- poet, translator, painter, cultural worker
- Active Years
- 1965-
- Influenced By
- Hilda Morley, Tang dynasty poets (classical Chinese poetry), Mother Wang Mei-Chuang — influence of classical Chinese poetry
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Singapore | — | English Literature | Bachelor of Arts | 1961–1965 | Singapore |
| University of Iowa (Iowa Writers' Workshop) | — | Creative Writing / Poetry (MFA) | Master of Fine Arts | 1966–1968 | United States |
University of Singapore
English Literature
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Period:
1961–1965
Year of Graduation:
1965
Country:
Singapore
Received BA in English Literature
University of Iowa (Iowa Writers' Workshop)
Creative Writing / Poetry (MFA)
Degree:
Master of Fine Arts
Period:
1966–1968
Year of Graduation:
1968
Country:
United States
Received an MFA at the Iowa Writers' Workshop
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Windham–Campbell Literature Prize (Poetry) | In the Same Light: 200 Tang Poems for Our Century | — | Windham–Campbell Prizes | 受賞 |
| 2022 | Poetry Book Society Spring 2022 Translation Choice (selection) | In the Same Light: 200 Tang Poems for Our Century | — | Poetry Book Society (UK) | 選出 |
Windham–Campbell Literature Prize (Poetry)
2022
Work:
In the Same Light: 200 Tang Poems for Our Century
Organization:
Windham–Campbell Prizes
Result:
受賞
Poetry Book Society Spring 2022 Translation Choice (selection)
2022
Work:
In the Same Light: 200 Tang Poems for Our Century
Organization:
Poetry Book Society (UK)
Result:
選出
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
A Bad Girl's Book of Animals
1969 PoetryAn early collection marked by vivid imagery and linguistic experimentation.
imagismanimal motifsfemininity
Reports
1972 PoetryA collection of poems from the late 1960s to early 1970s, containing experimental fragments.
fragmentationcity and memory
Wannsee Poems
1970 Poetry (written during Berlin fellowship)Poems written during a DAAD fellowship in Berlin; German translations exist.
sense of placedialogue with history
Translations
- German translation 'Wannsee Gedichte' by Nicolas Born
Superstitions
1978 PoetryA 1970s collection exploring personal beliefs and symbols.
beliefsymbolism
Picasso's Tears
2014 Poetry (collected work)Fourth book collecting poems from 1978–2013, combining painterly imagery and personal memory.
memorydialogue with visual art
In the Same Light: 200 Tang Poems for Our Century
2022 Translation / PoetryA collection of 200 Tang poems translated into Wong's distinctive contemporary poetic voice, including a poetic-prose afterword.
translationdialogue between classical and contemporarytransnationality
Bibliography
- A Bad Girl's Book of Animals (1969)
- Reports (1972)
- Wannsee Poems (circa 1970)
- Superstitions (1978)
- Picasso's Tears (2014)
- In the Same Light: 200 Tang Poems for Our Century (2022)
Translations by Author
- English translations of Tang poems (In the Same Light)
Translations of Works
- Wannsee Poems — German translation by Nicolas Born
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- concise, imagistic stylefragmentary and experimental expressionregister reflecting sensibilities of classical Chinese poetry
- Recurring Motifs
- nature and animalsmemory and losstransborder movement / displacementthe body and sensationlanguage and translation
Legacy
Wong May, born in China, raised in Singapore and based in Ireland, is recognized as a poet-translator who bridges English-language poetry and classical Chinese verse. Her 2022 Windham–Campbell Prize and renewed critical attention in later life underscore her influence in both translation and original poetry.
Academic Societies
- Poetry Book Society (selection)
Quotes
-
“The relinquishing of my Singapore citizenship is a severance which still pains me.”
Source: The Straits Times (2022 article) (2022)
Trivia
- Born in Chongqing in 1944 and moved to Singapore with her mother in 1950.
- Married physicist Michael Coey in 1973 and has lived in Dublin.
- Prefers to describe herself as a 'cultural worker' rather than solely as a poet.
- Won a Windham–Campbell Literature Prize in 2022 for 'In the Same Light: 200 Tang Poems for Our Century'.