HKU School of English

Hope you had a great summer! We are excited to share this semester’s School Seminar Series lineup:

• Sept 3 (Thu): Andrew Ross, University of Canberra, 'Digital Fandom, Discourse, and K-Pop Demon Hunters'

• Sept 10 (Thu): Nicholas Luke, University of Hong Kong, 'Waking into Newness of Life: Resurrection and Folly in A Midsummer Night's Dream'

• Sept 24 (Thu): Peter Kennedy, University of Hong Kong, 'Tom Stoppard & Politics'

• Nov 12 (Thu): Tara Lee, University of Hong Kong, 'Book Launch: William Blake and Romantic Biology: Evolution, Originality, and Organic Form' (Respondent: Prof. Li Ou, CUHK)

• Nov 19 (Thu): Julia Kuehn, University of Groningen, 'The Art of Being There: Marianne North’s Brazilian Journeys in Paint and Prose'

For full details, please see the attached poster and visit our webpage: https://english.hku.hk/event/Seminar_Series/2026-2027/First_Semester 🔗

See you there!

Best wishes,
Dr. Tara Lee
Assistant Professor | Director of Outreach and External Liaisons
School of English
Faculty of Arts
The University of Hong Kong

On 6 June 2026, the HKU School of English hosted the first MAES Alumni Shenzhen Meetup with 2025 graduates. Our alumni joined Dr Kang, Dr Heim, Dr Murray, Dr Gresham, Mr Cheng, & Dr Pak for lunch, quiz games, and a scenic walk at Shenzhen OCT Park. A highly successful reunion!

We are making an effort to contact our MAES alumni and join them together in a WeChat group so they can stay in touch with their cohort. Please check your HKU email for more information and a QR code to join your alumni group!

Professor Luke Kennard at the University of Birmingham, winner of the 2021 Forward Prize for Best Collection and recently longlisted for the 2026 Booker Prize, visited the School of English for a small poetry workshop with MFA and undergraduate students and local poets. The session included discussion of his latest poetry collection The Book of Jonah and structured writing exercises. The workshop was a special extension of the School’s Black Box Writers' Series, and we were grateful for his generous engagement with the MFA and our broader literary community.

The School of English is very excited to announce that our brand-new minor in Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies (DRTP) will be offered starting 2026-27. The minor aims to meet the rising need for professionals with strong foundations in theatre studies, dramatic literature and performance practice in Hong Kong by offering a more comprehensive and interdisciplinary curriculum than existing theatre minors. It integrates theory, practice, and critical inquiry to provide a well-rounded educational experience. The minor will introduce students to key methodologies in theatre-making and performance analysis, alongside a broad study of theatre history, dramatic literature, and contemporary performance. Through core and elective modules, students will engage with diverse traditions, cultural contexts and performance practices—locally and globally. Students admitted in 2025-26 and thereafter are eligible for declaring a minor in DRTP. For more information, please visit https://english.hku.hk/Undergraduate/Curriculum/Drama,_Theatre_and_Performance_Studies.

Ready to begin your journey with the School of English? Join us at our Briefing Session “Dream Big, Plan Smart: Navigating English Studies at HKU”!

Professor Ricky Chan and Professor Moonyoung Hong will guide you through our English Studies (ENGL) programme and our brand new minor programme in Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies (DRTP), and answer your questions or concerns regarding course selection and academic interests and goals. Our student representatives will also share tips on studying and university life in general!

Date: August 14, 2026 (Friday)
Time: 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Venue: CPD-LG.59, Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong (Map and more information: https://english.hku.hk/Undergraduate/page/briefing2026)

Gifts and refreshments will be provided. Scan the QR code on our poster, or visit https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=108710 to register NOW! All HKU students are welcome!

Sign up for a free one-day workshop on digital humanities, literary studies, AI and creative code. No programming skills required. Date: 18 Jul 2026 (Sat) 10:30am-4:30pm. Venue: HKU Arts Tech Lab. Register here: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=107378

We invite you to submit creative works exploring how key ideas from Romanticism (e.g. the sublime, organic form, originality) can be reinterpreted or subverted through digital media. Deadline: 2 Aug 2026 (Sun). HKD 2000 Top Prize. Learn more: https://visionary-machines.github.io/

BLACK BOX WRITERS’ SERIES (SPRING 2026) – SHEUNG-KING & JEEMIN KIM ✨

“So tell us, please, with all the languages you feel comfortable, a place (time) your mind returns to.” ~ Sheung-King

Thank you to everyone who joined us and shared their time for the Black Box Writers’ Series (Spring 2026) on 27 March. At HKU Black Box, award-winning novelist Sheung-King and artist JeeMin Kim presented their durational performance Displaced Nostalgia: Temporality, the final session of this semester’s Series and the concluding event of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival 2026.

In preparation for this art performance, we built this performance set orange by orange. Behind the curtains of Displaced Nostalgia: Temporality were hours of careful installation, precise measurements, and unexpected trips to the hardware store for neodymium magnets.

Over the course of seven hours, the artists—visible only as silhouettes behind the curtains—invited audiences into an elusive, liminal space. Time moved differently here, shaped by JeeMin Kim’s artistic rhythm: punctuated only by each cut of the threads suspending oranges from the ceiling railings. Audience members were invited to contribute their own memories by writing on laminated sheets, which were then projected onto the wall, creating an ephemeral community where memories were recalled and shared.

Thank you to Sheung-King, JeeMin Kim, and the gallery team who brought this internationally featured performance to life at the HKU Black Box!

We welcome everyone from our School and beyond to join us for the Autumn 2026 iteration of the Series!

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The BLACK BOX WRITERS’ SERIES celebrates creative voices and craft, with a focus on writers and works with local connections. Part of The HKU Guild: Home for the Creative Arts.