MUST Publishes the Anthology "Muses at Macao - A Collection of Poems"

The anthology "Muses at Macao- A Collection of Poems" was published by the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) in Macao on March 31, 2023. This cultural project was organized by the School of Graduate Studies and University International College (UIC) of MUST, and sponsored by the Macao Foundation. The book launch and award ceremony was held on April 19, 2023 in N221, MUST.

The Cover of "Muses at Macao- A Collection of Poems"

The main guests at the book launch and award ceremony were: Project Consultant Chair Professor ZHANG Hongming, Dean of UIC; Project planning FENG Junguo, Executive Director of the School of Graduate Studies; Chief Editor ZHENG Hui, Doctoral Student in Creative Writing, Grade of 2021; Editorial board: Associate Professor WEI Huiping, Assistant Professor ZHENG Yingfeng, Assistant Professor ZHAO Haixia, Assistant Professor XIAO Baofeng, Assistant Professor YU Siliang, ZHAO Mengxiang, Doctoral Student in TCFL, Grade of 2021.

A speech from Project Consultant: Chair Professor ZHANG Hongming, Dean of UIC

The Dean of UIC, Project Consultant Chair Professor ZHANG Hongming thanked the Creative Writing Team for their efforts in this poetry anthology. He believed that creativity is abundant and encouraged everyone to work hard on their creations. He also introduced the Doctor of Philosophy in Creative Writing program at MUST, which was established in 2021. It is the first Creative Writing degree program in Macao SAR and aims to cultivate outstanding writers with critical thinking skills, innovative abilities, and a humanistic spirit for the new era. To this end, the teaching and research team of Creative Writing is constantly promoting curriculum reform and disciplinary exploration, encouraging young scholars to broaden their multicultural perspectives and actively engage in creative writing practice and research.

A speech from Project planning: FENG Junguo, the Executive Director of the School of Graduate Studies

The Executive Director of the School of Graduate Studies, Project Planning, FENG Junguo, thanked the Macao Foundation for its support of this project. He expressed his gratitude for inviting Professor GE Hongbing, a Chinese creative writing expert, Chair Professor ZHANG Hongming, and contemporary Chinese writer LU Xinhua as consultants for the project. He pointed out that this cultural project takes poetry creation as an opportunity to collect and publish original poems by professional creative writing teachers, students and literary enthusiasts in Macao to explore Macao’s creative writing and reflect the current situation and achievements of Macao’s poetry creation. Such literary publications with Macao university teachers and students as the main creative subjects are of great significance for promoting the development of creative writing disciplines and Macao’s literary education, as well as helping to promote the development of Macao’s cultural and creative fields. The anthology has been sent to major universities in Macao and universities on China mainland that offer creative writing courses for academic exchanges. Finally, Mr. Feng encouraged young students to participate in academic activities.

A speech introducing the new anthology from the Chief Editor, ZHENG Hui, PhD student in Creative Writing in Grade 2021 

The Chief Editor ZHENG Hui, introduced that the anthology includes 113 poems from teachers, students and social professionals from Macao. The authors’ institutions include the University of Macau(UM), Macau Polytechnic University(MPU), City University of Macau(CityU) and MUST The anthology consists of six chapters. In addition to the first chapter "Award-winning Works", there are "Macao, Aspirations, Sentiments, Narratives and Muses". "Macao" is themed around Macao’s scenery; "Aspirations" is themed around will; "Sentiments" is themed around emotional expression; "Narratives" is themed around event narration; and "Muses" is themed around observation and thinking about the world. The anthology has been added to the library collection of MUST Interested parties can borrow it from the library or browse the e-book online. (E-book: https://must.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/853MUST_INST/1dp55m9/alma991003405494205076)

To encourage young students to delve into creative writing and write poetry diligently, the anthology editorial board invited experts to conduct blind reviews of submissions from young authors. Six poems were selected from these submissions and awarded first, second and third prizes respectively. The winning works are as follows:

The group photo of the winners with the Project Consultant Dean Zhang, who presented the awards. 

(From left to right: LI Jimeng, WANG Xi, WEI Wei, ZHANG Hongming, JIANG Hao and WANG Xinyue)

The representative of the anthology reviewers Associate Professor WEI Huiping (fourth from right), Assistant Professor ZHENG Yingfeng (fifth from right), and Assistant Professor ZHAO Haixia (sixth from right), presented books to the authors

Group photo

Other guests attending the event included LI Muci, the Poetry Binding Design; LI Baozhen, Faculty Secretary of the UIC; LI Wen, a senior supervisor; Assistant Professor YOU Shuxiang; and graduate students in TCFL from UIC.