Poetry Competition “Home” Winners Announcement (English Section)

We are delighted to announce two exceptional winners of the English Section in HKILF 2023 Poetry Competition “Home”: Aimee Hong for the Junior Sector, and Kaitlyn Chan for the Public Sector. The two winners will each receive a voucher and a special gift from Bookazine.

With a total of 101 entries, we extend our sincere gratitude to all the talented participants who contributed to the success of this competition. A special thank you goes to our esteemed judge, Dr. Sayed Gouda, for carefully selecting these outstanding works.

Dr Sayed Gouda was born in Cairo and moved to Hong Kong in 1992 where he currently resides. He did his undergraduate studies in Egypt and China, majoring in Chinese language and literature, and received his PhD in comparative literary studies from the City University of Hong Kong. He won several poetry awards with 15 books that include 5 poetry collections, 3 novels, and other books of translation.

Who I Am

Aimee Hong

The flickering, blinking lights fade into blurry, glowing lines
They fly past in a blink, mellowly upon the city’s fickle scene
A short stop in a traffic jam, the red light shines
Falling deeper into a dazzling night, all of it feels like a dream
Sentimental, I melt into the backseat as my vision becomes blurry
This comfort, familiarity, through the window, all of it shows
Though dominated by the neon street signs, the moonlight does not worry
It spills just like liquid silver onto the rocky, concrete roads
Everything washes over fuzzily, on the monotonous, crowded crosswalks
From red to yellow, then green, the car’s radio tunes out songs from days gone by,
It doesn’t wait, it washes over, the gentle melody rides with us past the many city blocks
I can’t help but feel it blends perfectly with the rich, indigo sky
Days of both joy and sorrow were embraced by the swaying skyscrapers,
Apartment complexes, indistinguishable just as I always knew they were
These narrow pavements I walk on again and again, covered in flyers and newspapers,
I want to stay here forever, for this life and the next, I’m sure
The nostalgia takes over me, even though I’ve never left
This is my home, my life, this is who I am

Home in the Archipelago

Kaitlyn Chan

Days that pass in fleeting moments
in suffocating snapshots of repetition. Only
in the witching hour do we realise
the endearing silence that we bring home,
As keys jangle and
footsteps fade…
The screeching kettle halts to a stop.
Breathe, in the quiet standstill
when what we take for granted fall
away from our fingertips.
Swift as sand
and harsh as the morning rush.
Alarms ring when we stand back from the platform doors.
Watch, through a flurry of teary
interludes and departures.
Always going away, never coming back.
“To leave or not to leave, that is the question—”
This City
With her blinding light shows and morning Dim Sum,
Gentle sunset runs and peanut butter egg waffles.
Alas! Even when home changes and
autumn cedar gets replaced by painted plastic,
the Aqua Luna heaves her red mast and
sets sail, nonetheless.