Eileen Chong

Eileen Chong (born 1980) is an Australian contemporary poet.

Eileen Chong
Born1980
Singapore
OccupationPoet

Early life and education

Chong was born in Singapore in 1980. She is of Hakka, Hokkien, and Peranakan descent. She grew up speaking English, Mandarin, and Hokkien.[1][2] Chong studied English language and literature at the National Institute of Education in Singapore and taught literature in secondary schools.[2][3]

She migrated to Sydney, Australia, in 2007.[4] After moving to Sydney she undertook a Masters of Letters at the University of Sydney.[3][5] After taking a poetry class with Judith Beveridge, she started writing poetry in 2009.

Career

Chong was awarded the Poets Union Youth Fellowship in 2010.[5]

In 2011–12, Chong was an Australian Poetry Fellow, which led to the publication of her first book Burning Rice.[5]

In 2016 Chong was poet-in-residence at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and the Bundanon Trust.[6][7]

Chong's first book, Burning Rice, is on the New South Wales’ Higher School Certificate syllabus for English Extension from 2019 to 2023. This book was the first poetry collection by an Asian-Australian poet to be on the New South Wales’ English syllabus for the Higher School Certificate from 2019 to 2023.[5] Chong's poem, ‘My Hakka Grandmother’, is part of a suite of poems from Contemporary Asian Australian Poets[8] on the NSW HSC syllabus for English, 2019–2023.

Eileen Chong reflected on her upbringing and its influence on themes in her writing:

"To paraphrase Wittgenstein, the limits of the world I grew up in were very much defined by the language of food. Ancestor worship and veneration centered around food offerings; my grandparents and parents certainly never told me they loved me when I was growing up, but they would ask if I was hungry, and they would do whatever it took to feed me, and they fed me well."[1][9]

Selected bibliography
  • The Uncommon Feast (single-author essays, poems, and recipes) (2018) Introduction by Judith Beveridge, illustrations by Colin Cassidy. Recent Work Press, Canberra, Australia.

Poetry collections
  • Burning Rice (2012) Australian Poetry New Voices Series 2012, Melbourne, Australia. Reprinted 2013. Pitt Street Poetry, Sydney, Australia.
  • Peony (2014) Pitt Street Poetry, Sydney, Australia.
  • Painting Red Orchids (2016) Pitt Street Poetry, Sydney, Australia.
  • Another Language (2017) Foreword by Paul Kane; George Braziller, New York City, USA.
  • Rainforest (2018) Pitt Street Poetry, Sydney, Australia.
  • Map-Making (2018), Photographs by Charlene Winfred; Potts Point Press, Sydney, Australia.
  • Dark Matter (2018) International Poetry Studies Institute, with Recent Work Press, Canberra, Australia.
  • A Thousand Crimson Blooms (2021) University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, Australia.

Anthologies
  • Aitken, Adam; Boey, Kimcheng; Cahill, eds. (2012). Contemporary Asian Australian Poets. Puncher & Wattmann. ISBN 978-1-921450-65-5. OCLC 829058589.

Awards

In 2013 Chong's collection Burning Rice was shortlisted for the 2013 Prime Minister's Literary Awards (Poetry).

In 2017 Chong's collection Painting Red Orchids was shortlisted for the 2017 Victorian Premier's Literary Award (Poetry) and the Prime Minister's Literary Awards (Poetry).

In 2019 her collection Rainforest (Pitt Street Poetry) was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Multicultural Award.[5][10]

In 2022 her collection A Thousand Crimson Blooms (UQP) was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry.[11]

References
  1. Reid, Georgina (8 June 2016). "New Shoots: Eileen Chong". Wonderground Press. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  2. RedPress, Lady (8 October 2016). "Focus on Australian Women Writers of Migrant Heritage: Eileen Chong". Australian Women Writers Challenge. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  3. "Eileen Chong". Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  4. "Painting Red Orchids". Singapore Unbound. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  5. "Interview #41 — Eileen Chong by Robert Wood". Liminal Magazine. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  6. "Giving Back: On being poet-in-residence at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney". Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  7. "Bundanon: where the future of the arts lies in the past". Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  8. The puncher and Wattmann anthology of Asian Australian poetry. Adam Aitken, Kimcheng Boey, Michelle Cahill. Puncher & Wattmann. 2012. ISBN 978-1-921450-65-5. OCLC 829058589.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  9. "Between The Lines-Eileen Chong". Centre For Stories. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  10. Perkins, Cathy (Summer 2019). "Excellence in Literature and History". SL Magazine. 12 (4): 52–55.
  11. "Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry shortlisting". State Library of NSW. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
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