Jay Gao is a Chinese Scottish poet and writer from Edinburgh, based in New York City.
Jay Gao | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1994 (age 29–30) Preston |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | University of Edinburgh Brown University Columbia University |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Notable works | Imperium |
| Notable awards | Eric Gregory Award Somerset Maugham Award |
| Website | |
| www | |
Education
editJay Gao was born in Preston in 1994 but was raised in Glasgow and Edinburgh. After attending the University of Edinburgh, he later earned his MFA in Literary Arts (Poetry) from Brown University.[1] He is currently a PhD student in English Literature at Columbia University.[2]
Career
editBetween 2017 and 2022, Gao began publishing under the name Jay G Ying, publishing two poetry pamphlets during this time: Wedding Beasts (2019), shortlisted for the 2019 Callum MacDonald Memorial Award;[3] and Katabasis (2020), winner of the 2019 New Poets Prize, judged by Mary Jean Chan.[4]
In 2018, Gao co-founded the Scottish BPOC Writers Network with Alycia Pirmohamed as an "advocacy and professional development group for Scottish and Scotland-based writers and literary professionals who identify as BPOC (Black people, People of Colour)".[5]
In 2019, Gao participated in the Palestine Festival of Literature as a visiting author, alongside writers including Victoria Adukwei Bulley and Natalie Diaz.[6]
In 2020, Gao was part of a delegation for the 35th British Council Literature Seminar in Hamburg, in collaboration with Literaturhaus Hamburg, in order to promote new Scottish literature and voices alongside Louise Welsh, Mary Paulson-Ellis, Malachy Tallack, and Kirsty Logan.[7]
In 2022, his debut poetry collection, Imperium, was published by Carcanet[8] and was subsequently a winner of the 2023 Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize,[9] a Somerset Maugham Award,[10] and an Eric Gregory Award.[11] Imperium was also a runner-up for the 2022 Edwin Morgan Poetry Award[12] and long-listed for the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award.[13] He also published a poetry pamphlet TRAVESTY58 in 2022.[14]
In 2022, his short story "The Baron and His Volcano" won the 2022 Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize, a prize that aims to celebrate international writers of experimental fiction.[15][16][17]
His writing has received support from literary institutions and residencies such as Bread Loaf Writers' Conference,[18] Tin House,[19] Civitella Ranieri Foundation,[15] and Community of Writers. A former Contributing Editor for The White Review,[20] he currently reads for Poetry.[21]
Works
editPoetry Collections
edit- 2022: Imperium (Carcanet Press)[22]
Poetry Pamphlets/Chapbooks
edit- 2024: Bark, Archive, Splinter (Out-Spoken Press)[23]
- 2024: Bark, Archive, Splinter (Belladonna*)[24]
- 2022: TRAVESTY58: Lake Poems (SPAM Press)[25]
- 2020: Katabasis (Smith|Doorstop)[26]
- 2019: Wedding Beasts (Bitter Melon)[27]
Awards
edit- 2023: Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize (Imperium)[9]
- 2023: Somerset Maugham Award (Imperium)[10]
- 2023: Eric Gregory Award (Imperium)[11]
- 2022: The Desperate Literature Prize for Short Fiction ("The Baron and His Volcano")[15][16]
- 2022: The London Magazine Poetry Prize ("Sky Soldier")[28]
- 2019: New Poets Prize (Katabasis)[4]
- 2017: The Poetry Book Society Student Poetry Prize ("Scattering")[29]
References
edit- ^ Communications, Brown Office of University. "Reading: Jay Gao, My Tran, Chibuihe Obi Achimba". events.brown.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ "Jay Gao". Columbia University.
- ^ "The Callum Macdonald Memorial Award 2019". Scottish Poetry Library. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ a b "Katabasis". The Poetry Business. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ "About -". Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ "PalFest 2019 Report | PDF". Scribd. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ "#BritLitHamburg: Scottish Literature Now! - Literature". literature.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ "Carcanet reveals 2022 debut collections". Bookbrunch. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
- ^ a b Dami (2020-08-07). "Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize Competition". The English Association. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ a b "Somerset Maugham Awards - The Society of Authors". 2020-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ a b "Eric Gregory Awards - The Society of Authors". 2020-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ "EMPA 2022: Winners". 2022-08-24. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ "Carcanet Press - Imperium". www.carcanet.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ "Jay Gao, TRAVESTY58: Lake Poems". SPAM. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ a b c "Jay Gao scoops Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ a b Anderson, Porter (2022-08-23). "Spain's 2022 Desperate Literature Prize Goes to Jay Gao". Publishing Perspectives. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ "Jay Gao wins Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize". Bookbrunch. Retrieved 2024-05-27.
- ^ "Audio Recordings | Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers' Conferences". www.middlebury.edu. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ "Jay Gao". Tin House. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ "About". The White Review. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ Foundation, Poetry (2024-05-26). "Announcing the New POETRY Magazine Podcast Host and Readers for POETRY!". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ Gao, Jay (2022). Imperium. Manchester: Carcanet Poetry. ISBN 978-1-80017-247-0.
- ^ Gao, Jay (2024). Bark, Archive, Splinter. Out-Spoken Press. ISBN 9781738412501.
- ^ Gao, Jay (2024). Bark, Archive, Splinter. Belladonna* Collaborative.
- ^ Gao, Jay (2022). TRAVESTY58: Lake Poems. SPAM Press. ISBN 978-1-915049-10-0.
- ^ Gao, Jay (2020). Katabasis. Smith|Doorstop. ISBN 978-1-912196-30-2.
- ^ Gao, Jay (2019). Wedding Beasts. Bitter Melon.
- ^ Magazine, The London (2022-02-25). "News | Poetry Prize 2021/22: Jay Gao wins first place for his poem 'Sky Soldier'". The London Magazine. Retrieved 2024-05-26.
- ^ Mullen, Alice (2018-03-16). "1st PRIZE: JAY G YING". The Poetry Book Society. Retrieved 2024-05-26.