Mary Jean Chan is a Hong Kong Chinese poet, lecturer, editor and critic. Their first poetry collection, ''Flèche'', won the 2019

Costa Book Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

in the

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

category. Chan is also a 2019 recipient of an

Eric Gregory Award The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by British poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. In 2021, the seven ...

for a collection by poets under the age of 30. Chan is a Ledbury Poetry Critic and was guest co-editor of The Poetry Review for Spring 2020.

Biography

Mary Jean Chan was born in 1990 and was raised in Hong Kong. They graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

in 2012 with a BA in

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

, minoring in English Literature. Chan furthered their studies at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

where they obtained an MPhil in 2015 in

International Development International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic or human development on an international scale. It is the basis for international classifications ...

. Chan also completed an MA and a PhD in

Creative Writing Creative writing is any writing that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary ...

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

. In 2018, Chan's

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

, ''A Hurry of English'', was published by ignitionpress and was chosen as a

Poetry Book Society The Poetry Book Society (PBS) was founded in 1953 by T. S. Eliot and friends, including Sir Basil Blackwell, "to propagate the art of poetry". Eric Walter White was secretary from December 1953 until 1971, and was subsequently the society's chair ...

Summer Pamphlet Choice. Chan's debut poetry collection ''Flèche'' was published by

Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel B ...

(2019). It was chosen as a

Autumn Recommendation. The book won the

for Poetry in 2019. In 2019, Chan was named as one of

Jackie Kay Jacqueline Margaret Kay, (born 9 November 1961), is a Scottish poet, playwright, and novelist, known for her works ''Other Lovers'' (1993), ''Trumpet'' (1998) and ''Red Dust Road'' (2011). Kay has won many awards, including the Guardian Fictio ...

's 10 Best BAME Writers in Britain, with Kay describing Chan's poetry as "psychologically astute and culturally complex." Chan is a Ledbury Poetry Critic. Chan is Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing (Poetry) at

Oxford Brookes University Oxford Brookes University (formerly known as Oxford Polytechnic (United Kingdom), Polytechnic) is a public university, public university in Oxford, England. It is a new university, having received university status through the Further and High ...

and serves as a supervisor on the MSt in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford.

Awards

*2021

Lambda Literary Awards Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ literature.The awards were instituted i ...

(Finalist for ''Flèche'') *2020

Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry The Seamus Heaney Centre is located at Queen's University Belfast, and named after the late Seamus Heaney, recipient of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Heaney graduated from Queens in 1961 with a First Class Honours in English language and l ...

First Collection Prize (Shortlisted for ''Flèche'') *2020

Jhalak Prize The Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour is an annual literary prize awarded to British or British-resident BAME writers. £1,000 is awarded to the sole winner. The Jhalak Prize launched in 2016 and was created by writers Sunn ...

for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour (Shortlisted for ''Flèche'') *2020 John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize (Shortlisted for ''Flèche'') *2020

Dylan Thomas Prize The Dylan Thomas Prize is a leading prize for young writers presented annually. The prize, named in honour of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a remuneration of £30,000 (~$46,000). It is open to published w ...

(Shortlisted for ''Flèche)'' *2019

for Poetry, ''Flèche'' *2019

, ''A Hurry Of English'' *2019

Forward Prize The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...

for Best Single Poem (Shortlisted for 'The Window') *2018 Poetry Society

Geoffrey Dearmer Award The Geoffrey Dearmer Award is an annual poetry prize founded in 1997 and run by the Poetry Society in memory of the poet Geoffrey Dearmer (1893–1996), who at 103 was the Society's oldest member. By establishing an endowment fund, the Dearmer fami ...

*2017

for Best Single Poem (Shortlisted for '//') *2017 Poetry Society Anne Born Prize *2017

National Poetry Competition The National Poetry Competition is an annual poetry prize established in 1978 in the United Kingdom. It is run by the UK-based Poetry Society and accepts entries from all over the world, with over 10,000 poems being submitted to the competition ...

(Second Place), 'The Window' *2016 Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition, 'Wet Nurse'

Bibliography

* ''Bright Fear'' (Faber & Faber, forthcoming in 2023) * ''100 Queer Poems'' (Vintage Books, 2022) * ''Flèche'' (Faber & Faber, 2019) * ''A Hurry of English'' (ignitionpress, 2018)

External links

Official website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:CHAN, MARY JEAN 1990 births Living people 21st-century British poets British women poets Alumni of the University of Oxford Hong Kong women writers 21st-century British women writers