Three HKU MFA Graduates Secure Top Prizes at National Creative Writing Contest

Three fresh graduates from The University of Hong Kong’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing in English programme won awards at the 12th National Creative Writing Contest in English, a major competition for emerging literary talents in China.

Vivian Liu claimed a First Prize citation for her story “Between Two Lips”, which traces a young woman’s impressions of Seoul through fleeting encounters, food, and pop culture. In addition to an MFA from HKU, Ms Liu holds a BFA in Radio and Television Directing from Yangtze University.

A second prize award went to Lily Tang for a literary sequence blending poetry and prose that explores body politics and intimacy. The three pieces in the sequence are “The Day When I Told You About Sylvia Plath”, “The Day When I Look Back on 1542, Forbidden Palace, Beijing”, and “Achilles”. Ms Tang holds a BA in English from the North China University of Technology.

In addition, Ruby Gao secured a Third Prize for her narrative “Dance with Me on Jupiter, Father”, which uses dated short prose entries to tell the story of a young woman navigating a pull toward faraway places. Gao holds a BA in English Literature and Asian Studies from the University of British Columbia.

The contest was judged by panels of experts from leading institutions through a multi-stage, double-blind review process, attracting submissions from universities and student writers across China.

Dr Antony Huen, Senior Lecturer and Director of the MFA programme, expressed pride in the students’ achievements. As editor of Black Box Magazine, an annual literary publication centred on the MFA community within the School of English, he noted that some of their creative work may be featured in forthcoming issues.