Yi-Hsuan Chen

A native of Chang-hua, I graduated from the Department of Chinese at National Taiwan Normal University and completed a master’s degree at the Graduate Institute of Creative Writing at Dong Hwa University. I have received numerous accolades including the Times Literature Award, the Lin Rong-San Literary Award, the Religious Literature Award, recognition as an Emerging Artist by the Ministry of Culture, regular grants from the National Culture and Arts Foundation, support from the “Writing Kaohsiung” project, and residencies at the Vermont Studio Center in the USA and the Taiwan Literature Base. My works have been included in the “Anthology of Taiwan Democratic Novels” (French edition), “Jiu Ge Anthology of Novels 109,” and “Jiu Ge Anthology of Prose 104.” I am the author of the short story collections “Those Wild Silences” and “The South Never Snows,” the novel “Unpredictable People,” the essay collection in collaboration with printmaker Lin Da-Yu. I previously taught at National Tainan Chia-Chi Senior High School, where I joined the Eslite Reading Program with colleagues from my school and partner schools, guiding high school students in Tainan in deep reading practices. Later, while teaching at Kaohsiung Municipal Kaohsiung Senior High School, my colleagues and I initiated the “Flap wings in the Wind of Literature” rural reading project, focusing purely on Kaohsiung High School students. After lectures and reading groups, we guided them into rural areas to enhance the reading and interpersonal skills of disadvantaged children. Together, teachers and students participated in various social care activities, and collaborated to produce a magazine focusing on the plight of migrant workers, titled “Migrant Perspective.” Now I teach Chinese Literature at National Chang-hua Senior High School, I actively collaborate with local youth, using literary walks and co-creation methods to encourage high school students to learn about their hometown. Through literature and art, they practice expressing themselves. I am continually engaged in local revitalization efforts, tirelessly exploring the power of being human.