Poetry as meditation: how writing or reading it aloud can improve your mental health and well-being
- Tammy Ho wrote poems during the turbulent Hong Kong pro-democracy protests to help put her mind at ease and give herself motivation
- British author Georgina Rodgers believes reading poetry aloud engenders positive thinking and ‘forces us to focus and be present in the moment’
When Tammy Ho Lai-ming felt the collective pains and frustrations of the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, she found solace by turning her anguish into art.
“I have been writing poems that document the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests for quite some time,” says Ho. “A number of these poems have been published and I would like to think they provide an alternative record of the city’s struggles.”
Ho is a talented poet and translator who was inspired by Chinese writers during this volatile period. Her passion and commitment to strengthen the collective poetic voice of the Chinese people was a source of hope for her.
“I am very pleased to see the high visibility of poetry in translation. I am very familiar with the translations of Chinese poetry, both classical and contemporary, in English. I must say, it is very promising. There are new forms, new poetic languages, and new voices constantly being embraced,” says Ho.
Ho is the president of PEN Hong Kong – a group whose aims are to promote literature and defend freedom of expression; a junior fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of the Humanities; and an adviser to the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing. She is also an associate professor at Baptist University in Hong Kong, where she teaches modern drama, fiction, and poetics.