Lew Poo Chan (Dan Ying)

Lew Poo Chan (b. 1943, Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Malaya - ), better known by her pseudonym Dan Ying, is a well-known poet in Chinese-speaking communities around the world. Her poetry has won a number of literary awards and has been translated into several languages. For her contributions to literature, Lew was awarded the Cultural Medallion for Literature in 1996.

Lew stated writing poetry when she was studying in Taiwan because of her involvement in literary magazine, Xing Zuo Shi Kan (星座诗刊). Her first and second poetry anthologies, were published in 1966 and 1968 respectively by Xing Zuo Shi She (星座诗社). As result of the high standards she sets for herself, she is not a prolific writer and would often not publish poems that she was not satisfied with. Her third poetry anthology, Poems of Taiji (太极诗谱), was published only in 1979 some 11 years after her second publication. This was followed by Ages on my Hair (发上岁月), published in 1993 after a gap of more than 10 years. Both poetry collections won her the National Book Development Council of Singapore Book Award.

An esteemed poet in the international Chinese literary scene, many of Lew’s works have appeared in anthologies published in Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. Some of her poems have also been translated into English, Malay and Korean. She was also picked as one of the top 10 Chinese women writers in the world at an international writer’s conference organised by Fudan University in Shanghai, China.

In Singapore, Lew’s poems were included in the 2006 pre-university syllabus for Chinese language and literature. Her poems were also displayed in Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train carriages as part of the initiative to introduce the works of local poets to the public in 1996.

This guide provides supplementary resources for those who are keen to know more about the poet. You can also visit catalogue.nlb.gov.sg to search for more resources. This resource guide was prepared in November 2021 by Goh Yu Mei, Librarian at the National Library, Singapore.

Introduction on Dan Ying adapted from Chor, Poh Chin, “Lew Poo Chan (Dan Ying),” Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board, last modified February 12, 2014, https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=c8465e79-4881-4bd8-9b6c-439b7cc8ee9a.

Books

• 淡莹 [Dan Ying]. 《千万遍阳关》 [Farewell, a long farewell]. 台北：星座诗社, 1966. (Call no.: RCLOS Chinese C811.5 DY -[YOS])
• 淡莹 [Dan Ying]. 《太极诗谱》 [Poems of Taiji]. 新加坡：教育出版社, 1979. (Call no.: RSING Chinese C811.5 DY)
• 淡莹 [Dan Ying]. 《发上岁月》 [Ages on my hair]. 新加坡：七洋出版社, 1993. (Call no.: RSING Chinese C811.5 DY)
• 淡莹 [Dan Ying]. 《诗路》 [A road of poetry]. 柔佛：南方大学学院出版社马华文学馆, 2017. (Call no.: RSING Chinese C811.5 DY)
• 王爱金 [Wang, Aijin]. 《论淡莹的诗歌创作》 [An analysis of Danying’s creation of poetry]. 台中市：贝壳屋, 2016. (Call no.: RSING Chinese C811.5004 WAJ)

Websites

• Chor, Poh Chin. “Lew Poo Chan (Dan Ying).” Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board. Last modified February 12, 2014. https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=c8465e79-4881-4bd8-9b6c-439b7cc8ee9a.
• “Lew Poo Chan (Dan Ying).” Esplanade Offstage. Last modified October 12, 2016. https://www.esplanade.com/offstage/arts/lew-poo-chan-dan-ying.

Newspaper articles

• 漕沫 [Cao, Mo]. “何必把清涧弄浑了！——与喀秋莎讨论淡莹的“伞内·伞外”” [Please do not over-read the poem! – Discussing Dan Ying’s “Under the umbrella, around the umbrella” with Kaqiusha]. 《南洋商报》, March 24, 1978. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/nysp19780324-1.2.28.1.
• 秦林 [Qin Lin]. “你是真·你是美——写淡莹” [Truth and Beauty – on Dan Ying]. 《新明日报》, December 21, 1986. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/shinmin19861221-1.2.24.3.1.
• “Troubled times stir the soul and pen of a poet.” The Straits Times, August 31, 1996. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19960831-1.2.72.2.2. (This article may only be viewed from the multimedia stations at NLB Libraries.)
• 徐舒虹 [Xu, Shuhong]. “执着追求诗意人生：试评文化奖得主淡莹的诗歌与散文” [Pursuing a poetic life: On the poetry and prose of Cultural Medallion recipient Dan Ying]. 《联合早报》, September 1, 1996. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/lhzb19960901-1.2.77.1. (This article may only be viewed from the multimedia stations at NLB Libraries.)

Journal articles

• 廖冰凌 [Liau, Pingleng]. “存在之思——新加坡女作家淡莹作品中的哲理意蕴” [Sense of existence: the Philosophical implication in Singapore Chinese writer Dan Ying’s literary works]. 《外国文学研究》, no. 6 (2014): 159 – 165. Retrieved from 中国学术期刊数据库 [China Online Journals Database]. (mylibrary ID is required to access this database.) .
• 孙一凤 [Sun, I-Feng]. “淡莹诗中的文学地景与身体书写” [The literary landscape and body writing in Dan Ying (Lew Poo Choo)’s poetry]. 《华文文学》, no. 1 (2016): 78 – 91. Retrieved from 中国学术期刊数据库 [China Online Journals Database]. (mylibrary ID is required to access this database.) .
• 朱崇科 [Zhu, Chongke]. “论淡莹作品中的“新”华性” [On the Singapore Chineseness of the works by Dan Ying (Lew Poo Chan)]. 《华文文学》, no. 4 (2017): 67-79. Retrieved from 中国学术期刊数据库 [China Online Journals Database]. (mylibrary ID is required to access this database.) .

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