The 2025 Newman Prize for Chinese Literature held its award ceremony at the University of Oklahoma on Mar. 28, honoring this year’s winner, Taiwanese poet Ling Yu (零雨). Upon receiving the award, Ling Yu remarked that her poetry documented the drastic changes Taiwan has undergone over the past half-century and expresses her hope that more women will engage in poetry and explore their creativity.
Established in 2008, the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature is awarded biennially in recognition of outstanding achievement in prose or poetry that best captures the human condition, and is conferred solely on the basis of literary merit. The prize has previously been awarded to three Taiwanese writers: Yang Mu (2013), Chu Tien-wen (2015), and Chang Kuei-hsing (2023), making Ling Yu the fourth recipient from Taiwan.
In conjunction with the award, the Taiwan Academy in Houston is collaborated with the University of Oklahoma to present an exhibition on modern Taiwanese poetry at the Chinese Literature Translation Archive. The exhibition highlights “Poetry Now (現在詩),” a magazine co-founded by renowned poets including Ling Yu, Hsia Yu (夏宇), Hung Hung (鴻鴻), Yung Man-han (翁文嫻), and Tseng Shu-mei (曾淑美).
Additionally, the organizers held a roundtable discussion featuring Jonathan Stalling, director of the Newman Prize for Chinese Literature; Cosima Bruno, professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; and Nicholas Y. H. Wong, assistant professor at the School of Chinese, University of Hong Kong.
Watch the Newman Prize Event on YouTube:
The award presentation: https://www.youtube.com/live/6XlvSCIS_Bc?si=ugot6K0rrdWhPfDB
The roundtable discussion:
https://www.youtube.com/live/ycsaK7dBfL4?si=JJefjLcLU7kJRX5Y