Mary Jean Chan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mary Jean Chan (陳瓊瑪) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1990 (age 35–36)[1] |
| Occupation | Poet, lecturer, editor, critic |
| Education | Royal Holloway University of Oxford Swarthmore College |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Notable works | Flèche, Bright Fear |
| Notable awards | Costa Book Awards Eric Gregory Award |
| Website | |
| www | |
Mary Jean Chan is a Hong Kong-Chinese poet, lecturer, editor and critic whose debut poetry collection, Flèche (Faber & Faber, 2019), won the 2019 Costa Book Award for Poetry. Chan's second book, Bright Fear, was published by Faber in 2023. Chan served as a judge for the 2023 Booker Prize and the 2025 Dylan Thomas Prize.
Mary Jean Chan was born in 1990 and was raised in Hong Kong.[1] Chan graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Swarthmore College in 2012 with a BA in Political Science. Chan obtained an MPhil from Oxford in International Development and completed an MA and a PhD in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway, University of London.[2][3]
In 2018, Chan's pamphlet, A Hurry of English, was published by ignitionpress and was chosen as a Poetry Book Society Summer Pamphlet Choice.[4] Chan's debut poetry collection Flèche was published by Faber & Faber (2019). It was chosen as a Poetry Book Society Autumn Recommendation.[5] The book won the Costa Book Award for Poetry in 2019.[6]
In 2019, Chan was named as one of Jackie Kay's 10 Best BAME Writers in Britain, with Kay describing Chan's poetry as "psychologically astute and culturally complex."[7]
Chan's second collection, Bright Fear, was shortlisted for the 2023 Forward Prize for Best Collection,[8] the 2024 International Dylan Thomas Prize and the 2024 Writers' Prize.
Chan was Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing (Poetry) at Oxford Brookes University from 2020 till 2023. Chan is a Departmental Lecturer in Poetry on the MSt in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford after serving as the 2023–24 Judith E. Wilson Poetry Fellow at the University of Cambridge.
Awards
| Year | Title | Award | Category | Result | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | — | National Poetry Competition | — | Second Place | |
| — | The Poetry Society Anne Born Prize | — | Won | ||
| — | Forward Prizes for Poetry | Single Poem | Shortlisted | [9] | |
| 2018 | — | The Poetry Society Geoffrey Dearmer Award | — | Won | [10] |
| 2019 | — | Forward Prizes for Poetry | Single Poem | Shortlisted | [3] |
| A Hurry of English | Eric Gregory Award | — | Won | [11] | |
| Flèche | Costa Book Award | Poetry | Won | [6] | |
| 2020 | Dylan Thomas Prize | — | Shortlisted | [12] | |
| Jhalak Prize | — | Shortlisted | |||
| John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize | — | Shortlisted | |||
| Seamus Heaney Centre First Collection Prize | — | Shortlisted | |||
| 2021 | Lambda Literary Awards | Lesbian Poetry | Shortlisted | ||
| 2022 | 100 Queer Poems | Books Are My Bag Readers' Awards | — | Shortlisted | |
| 2023 | Bright Fear | Forward Prizes for Poetry | Collection | Shortlisted | |
| 2024 | Dylan Thomas Prize | — | Shortlisted | ||
| The Folio Prize | — | Shortlisted | |||
| Jhalak Prize | — | Longlisted |
