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🎙 INTERVIEW [FREE]: Intimacy and Invention in Poetry: In Conversation with Mary Jean Chan
​** This is a LIVE interview with poet Mary Jean Chan about the craft of writing and reality of building a writing career. Attendees will be sent a recording after the interview. **
​How do poets write toward both intimacy and invention? How might a poet’s work sustain us in uncertain times?
​Mary Jean Chan is one of the most distinctive and celebrated voices in contemporary poetry. Their debut collection Flèche (Faber, 2019) won the Costa Book Award for Poetry and was shortlisted for multiple international prizes. Their second collection Bright Fear (Faber, 2023) was a Guardian Best Poetry Book of the Year and shortlisted for the Forward Prize, the Writers’ Prize, and the Dylan Thomas Prize.Â
​In this conversation, we will explore Chan’s journey as a poet. Together, we will consider the craft choices behind their work and the role of poetry as a mirror, a companion, and a source of courage.
​We’ll also explore:
​The origins of Flèche and the international reception of their debut
​The central themes of Bright Fear and how the collection was shaped
​Writing about queerness, family, and identity across genres and forms
​The role of editing and collaboration in their work
​Insights from judging prizes including the Booker and Dylan Thomas
​How poetry can serve as both intimacy and resistance
​​About Mary Jean Chan
​Mary Jean Chan is the author of the debut poetry collection Flèche, published by Faber & Faber (2019) and Faber USA (2020). Flèche won the Costa Book Award for Poetry and was shortlisted for the International Dylan Thomas Prize, the John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize, the Jhalak Prize, the Seamus Heaney Centre First Collection Poetry Prize and a Lambda Literary Award. An Italian translation of Flèche by Giorgia Sensi was published by Interno Poesia in 2023.
​Chan's second book, Bright Fear (Faber, 2023), is a Guardian Best Poetry Book of 2023 and was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection, the Writers' Prize and the Dylan Thomas Prize. Chan co-edited the anthology 100 Queer Poems (Vintage, 2022) with Andrew McMillan and co-wrote Siblings (Monitor Books, 2024). In 2023, Chan served as a judge for the Booker Prize. A 2023-24 Judith E. Wilson Poetry Fellow, Chan is currently Departmental Lecturer in Poetry on the Master of Studies (MSt) in Creative Writing at the University of Oxford and a Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College. In 2025, Chan served as a judge for the Dylan Thomas Prize.
​Your London Writers' Salon Hosts:
​Parul Bavishi and Matt Trinetti are the co-founders of the London Writers' Salon, creators of the webby-nominated Writers' Hour daily writing sessions, and hosts of the London Writers' Salon podcast.
​Parul Bavishi has been an editor for over a decade. In addition to running LWS she helps thriller, YA and non-fiction writers level up their craft and get published. She writes and edits for the Story Grid. She has worked as an editor and literary scout at Random House, Quercus & Eccles Fisher. She analyses TV hit shows (Killing Eve, Ozark, Game of Thrones) on the Story Grid Showrunners Podcast.
​Matt Trinetti is a writer, publisher, TEDx speaker, and facilitator. In addition to running LWS, Matt designs programs to help unfulfilled professionals pursue creative work, start businesses, and reinvent their careers. Matt's work has appeared in Quartz, Observer, Creative Mornings, and on his blog GiveLiveExplore.
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