Eric Yip (Economics Tripos) scoops first prize for his work, Fricatives.
Eric Yip’s fantastic poem won the £5,000 first prize. This is an incredible achievement as the National Poetry Competition winners’ are usually found among experienced poets. The fact that Eric is an economics student makes the result even more impressive as it’s outside of his normal studies. Furthermore, Eric’s work was up against over 16,000 poems entered into the competition from over 7,000 poets.
The name of Eric’s poem, Fricatives, comes from the term given to a consonant made by the friction of breath in a narrow opening, such as the ‘f’ sound in the word ‘free’.
Eric shares his feelings after finding out the great news, “It was such a complete shock for me to have won. Poetry is definitely one of the arts where you get better with age because you have more lived experiences and you read more and you write more… I see this win as a beginning, an encouragement for me to keep writing and to keep improving.”
Eric’s amazing achievement is a reminder that embracing extra-curricular activities is great for your wellbeing and it can open up many new and exciting opportunities.
You can read Eric’s poem below.
Fricatives by Eric Yip
To speak English properly, Mrs Lee said, you must learn
the difference between three and free. Three men
escaped from Alcatraz in a rubber raft and drowned
on their way to Angel Island. Hear the difference? Try
this: you fought your way into existence. Better. Look
at this picture. Fresh yellow grains beaten
till their seeds spill. That’s threshing. That’s
submission. You must learn to submit
before you can learn. You must be given
a voice before you can speak. Nobody wants to listen
to a spectacled boy with a Hong Kong accent.
You will have to leave this city, these dark furrows
stuffed full with ancestral bones. Know
that death is thorough. You will speak of bruised bodies
skinnier than yours, force the pen past batons
and blood, call it fresh material for writing. Now
they’re paying attention. You’re lucky enough
to care about how the tongue moves, the seven types
of fricatives, the articulatory function of teeth
sans survival. You will receive a good education
abroad and make your parents proud. You will take
a stranger’s cock in your mouth in the piss-slick stall
of that dingy Cantonese restaurant you love and taste
where you came from, what you were made of all along.
Put some work into it, he growls. C’mon, give me
some bite. Your mother visits one October, tells you
how everyone speaks differently here, more proper.
You smile, nod, bring her to your favourite restaurant,
order dim sum in English. They’re releasing
the students arrested five years ago. Just a tad more
soy sauce please, thank you. The television replays
yesterday on repeat. The teapots are refilled. You spoon
served rice into your mouth, this perfect rice.
Steamed, perfect, white.