Interview with Amang Hung
Amang Hung, born in Hualien, Taiwan, lives in Taipei. on/off is a collection of her poems written between 1995 to 2002, which was published in 2003. Her poetry has appeared in The Epoch Poetry, Taiwan Poetry Quarterly, Li Poetry Magazine, Chien Kun Poetry Quarterly, Chung-Wai Literary Monthly, On Time Poetry, and other small press publications.
Could you share some information about your personal background?
My hometown is Hualien, a wild but quiet place located between Taiwan's coastal mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Roaming around in this open space lets a child grow up naturally, especially when this child is also free from her parents' censorship. My folks worked high up in the mountains and left their four children in the care of my grandmother, who was too old to be a harsh disciplinarian of small monsters. Some how I escaped the traditional Chinese education that I was so afraid of. When I was 9 years old, for unknown reasons, my grandmother took us to Taipei city to live with my uncle. I underwent my first “culture shock.” My new friends took me to Danshui, Taipei's famous beach, where I saw gentle fingers of water moving up and down and asked, “You call this a ‘SEA'? Those ‘WAVES'?”
That first culture shock was so profound. I haven't overcome it even now, though I have lived here so long and consider myself a city animal. It's quite possible that my writing is part of that shock.
Whom would you identify as your poetic influences?Lots of people – many of whom are not writers. My physics teacher in junior high taught me that we can come up with an answer without opening books, that we can create a definition for anything and set up our own unit to measure all things.
Can you identify the point at which you considered yourself to be a poet?
I began to write poetry in the summer of 1995.
Do you translate your own work into English by yourself or collaboratively?
I once wrote a poem in English called “Why I Can't Translate My Poems into English” in which I expressed my complex feelings toward translation. Translation has an important function, but it's hard to keep a kind of intimacy that I treasure and am not willing to spoil. For this selfishness I'd rather create translations collaboratively. This time I owe my friend Melusine Lin, Eric Mader, and you lots of thanks.
Some of your poems explore intimate relationships and the tension between genders. Can you comment on this subject?
The process of writing poetry always helps me relieve tension, whether it's caused by intimate relationships, gender conflicts or simply human existence. Though identity is a concern in my work, it is not a central issue.
What do you consider to be the major themes in your work? Have these concerns changed or evolved over time?
I have written many poems on plants, and the connection between nature and human life. Other things I feel dear to my life are the sky, ocean, rain, the human body, scientific discoveries, etc.
I mentioned the “culture shock” that took place in my childhood. This is another sort of preoccupation, which can't be cured or overcome by time, I can't help but to try and address that in my work.
When I finally write a poem, I feel free in some way, though that relief is so short. The tension is so built up over time. The poem “Taxi! Taxi!” reflects this tension.
My notoriously poor memory creates many daily dramas. What can you do when you have lost most pieces of the puzzle? When you lose your internal map and sense of direction and travel companions? I use my own way, my own tools, inspiration, and help from unknown sources to fill the gaps and if I have that luck, I often find the hidden designs of those pictures, too.
Tell me about your published work. What was the process of putting together your book and what are the central themes of that collection?
on/off was published in 2003 and collects together most of my poems written from 1995–2002. The book is organized into three overarching themes, “Love is Beautiful”, “Still Life and Life”, and “Broken Voices.” Most of the poems in this collection can be grouped into these themes.
I didn't give much thought to publishing a book until my friend Chen Li encouraged me to publish a collection as a passport to the poetry kingdom – then I began the work.
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