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Eileen Chong

@eileenchongpoet.bsky.social
382 followers 286 following 326 posts

Poet. Author of 11 books, most recently 🌸 We Speak of Flowers (UQP, 2025) 🌸 eileenchong.com.au (she/her) 🍉

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Reposted by Eileen Chong
Luce Leonard @luceleonard.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
"We are aware that there is a tremendous amount of suffering going on. There is shock, there is fear, anger, hatred and sadness, in ourselves and in the world. In this moment we invoke all our spiritual teachers to be with us, helping... ~Thich Nhat Hanh, 2001 Via Tao & Zen See the text in the photo
"We are aware that there is a tremendous amount of suffering going on. There is shock, there is fear, anger, hatred and sadness, in ourselves and in the world. In this moment we invoke all our spiritual teachers to be with us, helping to embrace our suffering, to embrace the world, and to embrace humanity as a family. There are those of us trying to save, heal and support, and we are grateful to them. There are those of us who are crying, who are suffering terribly in this very moment. Let us breathe for all of them and embrace them tenderly with our compassion, our understanding, and our peace. We know that responding to hatred and violence with compassion is the only path for all of us."

~Thich Nhat Hanh, 2001
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Ren Wyld @wyld.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Pleased to announce a last-minute addition to the Rivers of Reason: Aboriginal & Arab Writers in Conversation - a poetry reading by renown Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish. Excited that Najwan has travelled from Jerusalem and will be joining us in Adelaide. events.humanitix.com/rivers-of-re...
events.humanitix.com
Rivers of Reason: Blak & Arab Writers in Conversation
Aboriginal, and Palestinian and other Arab writers share stories of family, being on/with Country and diaspora, as they explore commonalities and solidarity
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Happy lunar new year to one and all. May the year of the fire horse bring us peace, joy, good health and safety. I really enjoyed seeing these photos of the history of lunar new year in Australia here, but think some of the photos might not have accurate captions. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...
theguardian.com
Chinese lion dancers, parades and feasts: a look back at lunar new year in Australia – in pictures
These photos show lunar new year celebrations around Australia from the 1920s to the 1970s. The 2026 year of the horse has started with a 15-day festival of celebrations in every state
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
cordite.org.au/poetry/fit/b...
cordite.org.au
Burial (after Louise Bourgeois)
There is no mercy in the glitter of cleavers. ‘Totem’, Sylvia Plath child-dagger clavicle—self suspended seed hung liver bristling of needles of hooks in eyes i love you, maman webbed wings pinione…
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Dr Space Junk (Alice Gorman) @drspacejunk.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
Across Australia: protest the visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog on Monday 9 February. We will not be complicit in genocide. #Auspol #Gaza
apan.org.au
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) | Australia Palestine Advocacy Network - APAN
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) is a national coalition harnessing the community’s passion for Palestinian freedom, justice and self determination. More info on Palestine solidarity ev...
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
cordite.org.au/guncotton/ta...
cordite.org.au
Submission to Cordite 120: DIALOGUE
Where do poems come from? Where do they go? Do they ever arrive? Do they end? Do poems talk to one another? Do poets ever listen? Can poems arise from art, history, the present day?
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Reposted by Eileen Chong
Ren Wyld @wyld.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Not today, or any day
Aboriginal flag. Black, red, and yellow circle in centre.
Text says January 26 is not a day to celebrate
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Hello. Happy new year. Connect with community. Touch grass. Care a lot for others. Love as hard as you can. Do what makes you happy. Make art, music, joy. Keep on keeping on. ❤️
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 20/12/2025
Such a wonderful surprise to see this. Thank you for reading 💞 www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...
A screenshot of a news article on the guardian that is linked in the post.

The headline reads: The 25 best Australian books of 2025A screenshot of an article which reads:

We Speak of Flowers by Eileen Chong
Poetry, UQP, $24.99

We Speak of Flowers by Eileen Chong
Eileen Chong’s sixth full-length poetry collection is a study in ephemerality. An elegy to Chong’s ancestors, the 101 fragments can be read in any order. “Each reading will construct the poem anew,” Chong writes, and there is much to come back to here. Her collection brings remarkable richness of form and meaning to its reflection on grief, history, time and lineage. Each fragment is a memory surfacing, a petal falling, a moment held briefly to the light. And in the poems’ infinite permutations, a new cycle is created; regenerative. – Seren Heyman-Griffiths
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Greggo 🏳️‍🌈 @greggo.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
My response to anything over the next two weeks
A grey and red transit bus on the road in a city. The bus’ destination sign reads “NO? ?? ???????”
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Simon Rosenberg @simonrosenberg.bsky.social · 14/12/2025
1/2 The Sydney Jewish community and Australia have experienced the horror of terrorist violence. The PM's Antisemitism Envoy has cynically used this tragedy to demonize peaceful protests for #FreePalestine and an end to the #GazaGenocide. If Albanese wants 'social cohesion', she needs to go.
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Nick Feik @nickfeik.bsky.social · 28/11/2025
Obviously be careful of reposting this if you work for the ABC
amnesty.org.uk
Israel’s genocide against Palestinians 'not over' despite ceasefire - new Amnesty briefing
Conditions for Palestinians in Gaza show no significant change, with no clear evidence to indicate that Israel’s intent has changed
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 07/12/2025
Vale Martin Parr, photographer extraordinaire. ‘There’s something very interesting about boring.’ www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
‘There’s something very interesting about boring’: Martin Parr on his life in pictures
From Benidorm sunbathers​ to British birdwatchers​,​ for nearly 70 years the photographer has captured the magic of the mundane. As he publishes his life in pictures, he recalls what drew him to his s...
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 03/12/2025
Strange new poem of mine in new edition of Cordite Poetry, edited by Andy Jackson 🙏🏼 cordite.org.au/poetry/preca...
cordite.org.au
GLIDE / ELIDE
travel by train women a fox her neck a rage my father married Life sex unconscious harm for my suicide need at least disguised as very fox animal I think if I died very bad day[s] exciting realizat…
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berserk du soleil @aetataureate.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
almost every novelist you read who's not from the airport fiction or bestseller sections is working a full on day job, including multi-award winners and absolute legends, or they have a spouse or trust that supports them. virtually across the board. just normalize in your mind that's how it works.
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Very excited to be the first featured guest on the official WeChat channel of the Australian Consulate in Shanghai—click through for WeChat link. Translation available + video is in English. mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Huzyd8wqFt...
A screenshot of the official WeChat channel of the Australian Consulate in Shanghai featuring Eileen Chong
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Anyone who’s ever been bullied by a child bully or an adult bully will recognise the truth of the testimonials in this article www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-...
theguardian.com
‘Deeply shocking’: Nigel Farage faces fresh claims of racism and antisemitism at school
Bafta-winning director among contemporaries urging contrition and apology from Reform UK leader, who denies the allegations
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Mia Sato @miasato.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
New from me: The same tactics marketers use to get you to find their toothbrushes or photography business on Google were also used by Jeffrey Epstein & co. to try to launder his reputation online. SEO to try to cover up the most infamous pedophile ring. www.theverge.com/report/82231...
theverge.com
How Jeffrey Epstein used SEO to bury news about his crimes
“the google page is not good,” Epstein wrote
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Today’s reads 😍
A photograph of three books: Grace Yee’s Joss: A History, Bei Dao’s Sidetracks (translated by Jeffrey Yang), and Evelyn Araluen’s The Rot. There is also a calico cat sniffing at a red mug of matcha latte
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
I’m going to miss the Scottish Chinese poet Sean Wai Keung as he ends his residency at Varuna—such kinship! We are both Hakka; we both write about food, identity and migration; we both love eating with others (of cos). Read his poetry pls 🥟
A photograph of Sean Wai Keung and Eileen Chong posing with ice creamsThe cover of sikfan glaschu, a book of poems by Sean Wai Keung with three porcelain dumplings arranged on it
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
@brocklesnitch.bsky.social wrote this and i thoroughly enjoyed reading it and yes it was very funny www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
It soothes my bitter heart to know that no matter how much money Elon Musk has, he will never, ever be funny | Rebecca Shaw
What the Tesla tycoon wants his billions can’t buy: being able to get a true laugh
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Catriona Menzies-Pike @catrionamp.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
What’s this? Yet more research concluding that robust public investment in the arts yields economic benefits? A great outcome for Ireland, and a rebuke to all those tired cliches about freeloading artists sapping the resources of the state. But also, art enriches us all, economic benefits or no.
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
It’s been amazing sweetie 🫶🏼
Eileen Chong is wearing a cotton qipao in a black and white flower pattern and holding up a sign with her name in English and Chinese. She has taken a selfie. Eileen Chong is taking a photo of her reflection in a round mirror. It shows her in a cotton qipao in a pattern of black and white flowers. She is wearing four brooches that spell out the word POET. A photo of Eileen Chong wearing black and white Mary Janes. The photo shows only her calves and feet and part of her dress.
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
I’ve been collecting jade for over 30 years, so to see this collection in the Shanghai History Museum is a culmination of many long-held dreams.
A photograph of Eileen Chong standing in front of a sign that says Chinese JadeAn exquisitely carved piece of nephrite jade depicting a pavilion at the base of a mountainAnother exquisitely carved piece of nephrite jade depicting a gathering of eight members of the literati in a mountain settingA piece of nephrite jade carved in an open work manner, depicting flowers and a dragon
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Such a joy to read poetry to students at the Shanghai Community International School today 🌟
A photograph of the exterior of two buildings of the Shanghai community international schoolA photograph of a row of different countries’ flags outside a school officeA photograph of Eileen Chong sitting on a chair in front of a class of studentsA selfie of Eileen Chong holding up a Little Miss Giggles book titled 笑呵呵小姐
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 11/10/2025
This city—this magic city—✨
An exterior shot of the China pavilion for the Expo which has now been repurposed for the China Art MuseumAn interior shot of three immense Buddha statues at Jing’An temple. There is a stunning dharma wheel embedded in the ceiling A shot of a pavilion in a Chinese garden as seen through the entrance to a rockery A photograph of the skyline of the Bund in Shanghai at night with the buildings all lit up.
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Anton Hur @antonhur.com · 07/10/2025
“the nobel can’t possibly award an Asian lady after it awarded an Asian lady last year” and ofc they’re kind of right? it just tells you what kind of prize it is
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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Pay attention to the language that will be used by much of the media. The Global Sumud Flotilla never entered Israeli waters. They are in international waters attempting to reach Palestinian waters. Israel is once again breaking international law
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Just me, the poet Eileen Chong, writing poems in a cafe in the building where the novelist Eileen Chang lived 😱😱😱
The exterior of an apartment block built in a 1930s on a street in Shanghai ChinaA bronze plaque detailing the life and work of the novelist Eileen ChangA table with chairs next to an oil paintingA photograph of Eileen Chong sitting at a desk in the Eileen Chang Cafe. She is smiling at the camera her laptop is open in front of her.
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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
I hate it when people compare the amount of heat the ocean has absorbed to the power of atomic bombs dropped on Japan. It’s gruesome and not relatable. As my Japanese PhD student said when he heard the comparison, “It’s not a good memory for us.”
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The Conversation AUNZ @aunz.theconversation.com · 23/09/2025
New research considers the true value of Meanjin, using publicly available data. The journal has trained generations of Australian writers and editors.
theconversation.com
What is the value of Meanjin? We’ve done some calcuations – and it’s not about money
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
Beautiful Huangyan in Taizhou, Zhejiang
A photo of a modern city from the point of view of a small boat on a river. A photo of a footbridge across a river. There is a mother and daughter by the water fishing.
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
‘Muslim women in particular face “the rap” of these incidents. It is well-documented that Muslim women are overwhelmingly targeted in Islamophobic attacks.’ www.theguardian.com/news/2025/se...
theguardian.com
‘I’d rather be bored than in danger’: Muslim women change how they behave in public because of racist attacks in Australia
Islamophobia Register Australia data shows women and girls are subject to 75% of reported incidents. These are some of their stories
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Shanghai has my heart because the people have my heart. 💗 with the esteemed writers Ms. Yin Huifen and Mr. Lou Yaofu, aka my new mum and dad, in Jiading
Eileen Chong is posing for a photograph with a beautiful older woman and a cute older man. They are standing in front of a bookshelf filled with their books.A photograph of a canal with trees on either side there is a small boat on the right near some steps and a man is sitting on the boat, turned around to look at the camera
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Stylish men of Shanghai 😍😍😍
An old man in traditional Chinese jacket and pants is holding a paper fan. He is also wearing a red fedora. He looks very stylishAn older gentleman seated on a chair at a cafe a plaid flat cap, a striped shirt, plain trousers, and very cool shoes. He is also wearing a stylish watch a gold bracelet and he is smoking.An elderly gentleman standing in he is wearing a a khaki beret that matches his khaki pants, a blue shirt and a silk scarf knotted around his neck, brown loafers and a black belt with an interesting buckle.A middle-aged gentleman seated at a cafe he is wearing a short sleeve shirt printed with a very interesting pattern of stripes colours and dots. He is also wearing a pair of seersucker shorts, black loafers and he is holding a pipe. He is also wearing vintage looking round lensed sunglasses.
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 14/09/2025
@yilinwriter.bsky.social and I have been friends online for 5 years. We finally got to meet in person this week in the magical city of Shanghai. Here we are in the garden of the Lu Xun museum reading poetry together. 💕
Eileen Chong the Australian poet and Yilin Wang the Canadian translator are sitting on a bench in a garden. Yilin is holding up a copy of her book, The Lantern and the Night Moths.
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That guy Maks @callmesipo.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
A few pictures from the rally against @mupublishing.bsky.social for their disgraceful axing of Meanjin - permanent shame on those involved in the decision. Melbourne Uni once again committing cultural arson. Thanks to @beneltham.bsky.social for bringing everyone together
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
Shanghai, city of cats 😍😍😍
A black and white tuxedo cat lying on the ground. It is very cute A white cat in a bookshop. Eileen holding a tabby cat and taking a selfie Eileen holding a large tabby and white cat and taking a selfie
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Ben Eltham @beneltham.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
RALLY TO SAVE MEANJIN Thursday 11 Sep 9am Outside the Melbourne University Publishing office, 715 Swanston St, Carlton. A number of Australian writers and editors will speak in support of this vital cultural institution
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Eating my paternal grandmother’s favourite fruit in the land of her birth. 🫶🏼
A plate on which small persimmons are arranged in a pyramid.
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Joanne Harris @joannechocolat.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
My grandfather used to say: “Wasps get mean in autumn because they know their time is nearly done.” Certain people are like that, too…
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Lindsay Fickas @lindsayfickas.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
I crocheted Patti Smith’s Horses cover
A crocheted Patti smith Patti smith from Horses
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Not one, but three people asked me for directions today. That’s how much I fit in on these streets. I actually love it.
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Shanghai Writing Program 2025 officially opened yesterday. So happy to be here in the land of my ancestors sharing my poetry and meeting other writers. 💕
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
I am in Shanghai, China as a representative for Australia in the prestigious international Shanghai Writers’ Program. At the poetry reading on the Bund on 12 Oct, I will be reading the first poem I ever had published. It was published in Meanjin in 2010. This news is shocking & a huge blow to AusLit
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
It’s really strange but Shanghai feels so familiar to me because it really reminds me of Singapore in terms of landscape, architecture, urban layouts, etc. I thought it would feel much more foreign to me. But it feels like my very cells know I’m in the land of my ancestors. It’s hard to explain this
Two colonial style buildings with ornate facades in Shanghai, China. There is a modern skyscraper in the background. A post with street signs in four directions, showing directions to The Bund, Yu Garden, People’s Square and China PostA side street in Shanghai, ChinaThe exterior of a very grand looking building in the colonial style in Shanghai, China.
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Eileen Chong @eileenchongpoet.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
Shanghai is trying to tell me something something
A photo of a sign on a building. The English text reads ‘GYM POET’
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Greg Jericho @grogsgamut.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
Israel murders journalists www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
theguardian.com
The deadly toll on journalists in the Gaza war
With foreign media barred, Palestinians have reported alone, facing the ‘most deliberate effort to kill and silence’ them ever
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