In his disquieting third collection The Ink Cloud Reader, Kit Fan takes enormous risks linguistically, formally and visually to process the news of a sudden illness and the threat of mortality, set against the larger chaos of his beloved city Hong Kong and our broken planet. These shape-shifting poems are sensitive to anxiety and to beauty, questioning the turbulent climate of our time while celebrating the power of ink - of reading and writing.
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(@Carcanet, 27 April 2023, e-book, 100 pages, borrowed from @natpoetrylib via @OverDriveInc)
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This is my first time reading the poet. I really enjoyed The Ink Cloud Reader. This is an impressive, powerful collection of poetry, dealing with a range of themes and ideas using fresh, often startling imagery. I enjoyed some of the poems so much I read them more than once. I also liked the fact the poems vary in style and structure.