Mary Jean Chan Explained

Mary Jean Chan
Birth Place:Hong Kong
Occupation:Poet, lecturer, editor, critic
Education:Royal Holloway
University of Oxford
Swarthmore College
Genre:Poetry
Notableworks:Flèche
Awards:Costa Book Awards
Eric Gregory Award

Mary Jean Chan is a Hong Kong-Chinese poet, lecturer, editor and critic whose debut poetry collection, Flèche, won the 2019 Costa Book Award for Poetry. Chan's second book, Bright Fear, was published by Faber & Faber in 2023. In 2023, Chan served as a judge for the Booker Prize.

Biography

Mary Jean Chan was born in 1990 and was raised in Hong Kong.[1] Chan graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College in 2012 with a BA in Political Science. Chan obtained an MPhil from Oxford in International Development and also completed an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.[2] [3] In 2018, Chan's pamphlet, A Hurry of English, was published by ignitionpress and was chosen as a Poetry Book Society Summer Pamphlet Choice.[4] Chan's debut poetry collection Flèche was published by Faber & Faber (2019). It was chosen as a Poetry Book Society Autumn Recommendation.[5] The book won the Costa Book Award for Poetry in 2019.

In 2019, Chan was named as one of Jackie Kay's 10 Best BAME Writers in Britain, with Kay describing Chan's poetry as "psychologically astute and culturally complex."[6]

Chan's second collection of poems, Bright Fear, was shortlisted for the 2023 Forward Prize for Best Collection[7] and the 2024 Writers' Prize.

Chan served as Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Oxford Brookes University from 2018 till 2023. Chan is currently a tutor on the MSt in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford and is the 2023–24 Judith E. Wilson Poetry Fellow at the University of Cambridge.

Awards

Year Title Award Category Result Ref
2017 Second Place
The Poetry Society Anne Born Prize
Forward Prizes for PoetrySingle Poem [8]
2018 [9]
2019Single Poem
A Hurry of English [10]
FlèchePoetry[11]
2020 [12]
Seamus Heaney Centre First Collection Prize
2021 Lesbian Poetry
2022 100 Queer Poems
2023 Bright Fear Collection
2024

Bibliography

Edited works

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mary Jean Chan . Poetry Society . 9 January 2020.
  2. Riggs . Jonathan . Waxing Poetric . Swarthmore College. Fall 2017. CXV. 1 . 9 January 2020.
  3. Web site: Forward Arts Foundation in Conversation with Mary Jean Chan . Forward Arts Foundation . 9 January 2020.
  4. Web site: Poetry Book Society . A Hurry of English by Mary Jean Chan . Poetry Book Society.
  5. Web site: Autumn Selections 2019 . Poetry Book Society . 10 January 2020.
  6. Web site: Kay . Jackie . Jackie Kay selects Britain's 10 best BAME writers . The Guardian. 5 October 2019 . 6 January 2020.
  7. Web site: Creamer . Ella . Forward prizes for poetry add new award for performed poems . The Guardian. 10 June 2023 . 30 June 2023.
  8. Web site: Forward Prizes of Poetry 2017 Winners . Forward Arts Foundation . 10 January 2020.
  9. Web site: Geoffrey Dearmer Prize . The Poetry Society . 10 January 2020.
  10. Web site: Eric Gregory Award Winners . Eric Gregory Award . 10 January 2020.
  11. Web site: Jonathan Coe's Brexit-themed novel among Costa Book Award winners . BBC. 6 January 2020 . 10 January 2020.
  12. Web site: Dylan Thomas Prize 2020: shortlist announced. 8 April 2020. Books+Publishing. en-AU. 2020-04-08.