19歲的香港人Eric Yip，成為National Poetry Competition歷來最年輕得主。他參賽的詩是"Fricatives"(摩擦音)，由三位評審從眾多匿名作品中選出。他正在劍橋大學修讀經濟。 這首詩以語言為遊移手段抒發了對殖民、種族、移民以至離開家園的罪咎感。他對獲獎表示震驚，會視之為一個起點，繼續寫詩。他又說，用英文寫香港這個自己的城市、文化也會令他感到內疚，必然要投入某種翻譯，而這正是他想探索的主題。 評審Fiona Benson認為這首詩重新把讀者置於以英語為第二語言的學生位置，以不穩定的發音帶出新的意義，既私人，又政治，有敏銳的音樂性。 Eric又說是越南裔美國詩人作家Ocean Vuong讓他意識到他的聲音也有權被聽到，即使他原本說著另一種語言。
Fricatives by Eric Yip
To speak English properly, Mrs Lee said, you must learn
the difference between three and free. Three men
escaped from Alcatraz in a rubber raft and drowned
on their way to Angel Island. Hear the difference? Try
this: you fought your way into existence. Better. Look
at this picture. Fresh yellow grains beaten
till their seeds spill. That’s threshing. That’s
submission. You must learn to submit
before you can learn. You must be given
a voice before you can speak. Nobody wants to listen
to a spectacled boy with a Hong Kong accent.
You will have to leave this city, these dark furrows
stuffed full with ancestral bones. Know
that death is thorough. You will speak of bruised bodies
skinnier than yours, force the pen past batons
and blood, call it fresh material for writing. Now
they’re paying attention. You’re lucky enough
to care about how the tongue moves, the seven types
of fricatives, the articulatory function of teeth
sans survival. You will receive a good education
abroad and make your parents proud. You will take
a stranger’s cock in your mouth in the piss-slick stall
of that dingy Cantonese restaurant you love and taste
where you came from, what you were made of all along.
Put some work into it, he growls. C’mon, give me
some bite. Your mother visits one October, tells you
how everyone speaks differently here, more proper.
You smile, nod, bring her to your favourite restaurant,
order dim sum in English. They’re releasing
the students arrested five years ago. Just a tad more
soy sauce please, thank you. The television replays
yesterday on repeat. The teapots are refilled. You spoon
served rice into your mouth, this perfect rice.
Steamed, perfect, white.
來源：https://www.facebook.com/146652782068898/posts/5004694096264718/
衛報相關報導: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/mar/31/national-poetry-competition-youngest-ever-winner-eric-yip-fricatives?fbclid=IwAR1epjoU-quCEwfSHxL38HYuMrTh1GeeFl6U0SvpKaGhvb1TP4nxfMHRBuk
