A Hong Kong civil servant has scooped a top prize in an international poetry competition.
Arthur Leung Sai-chung, 39, was second runner-up in the first Edwin Morgan International Poetry Competition, in Scotland, for which more than 1,000 entries were received.
Leung also won GBP500 (HK$7,300). The prize was presented at the Edinburgh International Book Festival two weeks ago.
His winning poem, What the Pig Mama Says, tells the story of a sow losing her piglets as butchers take them away one after one, with the mother not knowing they will be slaughtered.
Leung said creatures treated as food by humans had their own ways of thinking, and the poem was trying to imitate the thoughts of 'the smaller life on Earth'.
The theme was initially inspired by the rising price of pork, but also touched on environmental concerns and global food shortages, Leung said. 'I was glad that readers will relate the poem to many contemporary issues,' he said.
The competition's judges described Leung's work as 'a powerful poem with good techniques'.
