Plans for the Hong Kong-Singapore physical travel bubble may be up in the air at the moment, so take travel plans into your own hands this February 20 with the HK-SG Digital Travel Bubble. Co-presented by Sing Lit Station and The Substation, this ekphrastic series sees eight Singaporean and eight Hong Kong poets playing pandemic pen pals – exchanging photographs of their favourite nooks and crannies from their city. Each poet then writes a poem inspired by their own photograph, and the photograph received from their partner overseas.
Poets that may be familiar to you include published veterans like Hong Kong's Kit Fan and David McKirdy or Singapore's Yeow Kai Chai; as well as fresh voices spanning diverse backgrounds, including creative writing undergraduates, local professionals, migrant workers and poets that work across languages. They cover places from each city that are close to their hearts – read about the colours of Bugis, the peace of Fei Ngo Shan, a bustling Mongkok market, an enigmatic temple by the Kallang River, and more – through the lens of their own histories and experiences.
Experience Singapore and Hong Kong anew through heartfelt readings of selected poems at the Facebook Live launch event, or savour all poetry and photographs at your own pace on the official website poetry.sg/travelbubble.