Paper Scissors Stone

Born and educated in Hong Kong, Kit Fan now lives in the UK. He completed a PhD in English at the University of York, and his poems have been widely published in literary magazines such as Poetry Review, Poetry London, and Poetry Wales, and The London Magazine. He won a 2006 Times Stephen Spender Prize for Translation and the 2010 inaugural HKU Poetry Prize.

“Then all things began twice.” The poems in Paper Scissors Stone are moved by the forces of repetition and release, and are haunted by crossings (of borders, of people, of languages and their written characters). With wit and sorrow, precision and tact, the poems study the essential qualities of places, persons, and their arrangements, asking us what it is to begin twice. The book is a formally beautiful and complete meditation on transformation. – Saskia Hamilton

These extraordinary poems, so assured in their directions, so startling in their clarities, have an eerily dream-like wakefulness. Fan’s enigmatic lucidity is born of a confluence of traditions, both real and imagined. This is not simply a remarkable debut, but a brilliantly accomplished book.– Adam Phillips

Kit Fan’s brainy lucidity marks him out as an unusual talent, already exceptionally-formed. This subtle, sophisticated collection ranges from politics, through the thought-scapes of an attentive reader, to proverb and observation – handled with the lightest of touches. Fan’s steely sensibility demonstrates an enormous capacity for pleasure, insight and the memorable phrase. He is a poet of poise and delight. – Fiona Sampson

Here is a collection of complex work, skillfully executed. The poems, each carefully measured and crafted, when taken together add up to a beautifully articulated body of work. This is the performance of a fully fledged poet. – Louise Ho