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Taiwanese modernist poet Ya Hsien passed away at the age of 92 on Saturday, October 12, in Vancouver, Taiwan News reported.
Ya Hsien, born Wang Ching-lin in 1932 in Nanyang, Henan, China, joined the military during a period of significant upheaval in his homeland. He arrived in Taiwan with the retreating Kuomintang forces. After moving to Taiwan, he pursued higher education and graduated from the Film and Drama Department of Fu Hsing Kang College. Following his academic journey, Ya Hsien served in the Navy before earning a master's degree in East Asian Studies from the University of Wisconsin. In 1954, Ya Hsien, along with poets Luo Fu and Chang Mo, co-founded the "Epoch Poetry Society" in Kaohsiung. The society also published the influential "Epoch Poetry Quarterly," a publication that ignited a new wave of poetry in the 1950s, reported Taiwan News. The magazine was known for its advocacy of surrealism and its efforts to educate the younger generation in literature. Ya Hsien dedicated nearly four decades of his life to editorial work, playing an instrumental role in encouraging submissions from Chinese-language writers around the world. He also organized literary awards to support and recognize emerging literary talents, as per the report by Taiwan News. After retiring, Ya Hsien relocated to Vancouver, where he was honoured with the Taipei Culture Award in 2023 for his significant contributions to the literary world. (ANI)
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