Events › Poetry Reading with Wing Tek Lum

The Chinese Historical Society of New England (CHSNE) and the Chinatown Branch Library are partnering to present a poetry reading by Hawaiian poet Wing Tek Lum in the China Trade Center atrium. 

Lum will read from his latest collection, The Oldtimers, which imaginatively explores the lives of Chinese pioneers in 1900 Honolulu Chinatown through vivid and historically conscious verse. 

Verses in The Oldtimers reflect on themes of displacement, labor, isolation, familial bonds and obligations, cultural heritage and adaptation, and the preservation of traditions and values amidst the islands’ rapid growth.

Wing Tek Lum is a Honolulu businessman and poet. Bamboo Ridge Press has published two earlier collections of his poetry: Expounding the Doubtful Points (1987) and The Nanjing Massacre: Poems (2012).

Excerpt from “At Dusk”:

The cook inside fires up his wok, deeply patinaed,

stir frying slices of pork belly and vegetables

then adding a dollop of his secret shrimp paste,

this tiny seed quickly blossoming into a bouquet

permeating the courtyard as the light recedes.

The oldtimer hanging his threadbare wash

revels in the savory aroma of this serendipity.

In the gloaming he breaks out into song,

his taut line of bleach-white clothes pegs

paddling in unison into the gathering wind.

The Chinese Historical Society of New England (CHSNE), established in 1992, strives to document, preserve, and promote the history and legacy of Chinese immigration to New England.