A life with the sea: Liao Hung-chi on life, literature and ocean
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
- Venue
- Senate House (Paul Webley Wing)
- Room
- SALT
- Event type
- Seminar
About this event
The Centre of Taiwan Studies is delighted to welcome Liao Hung-chi, one of Taiwan’s leading ocean writers, for a talk on how decades of life at sea have shaped his writing, marine work, and understanding of Taiwan’s relationship with the ocean.
Having spent 36 years living and working at sea, my life has been profoundly shaped by the ocean. It was at the age of 34 I started fishing, and this was the first moment I began to venture out to sea. Once the boat left the shore, I looked back and discovered the magnificent coastline stretching along eastern Taiwan. I came to appreciate the beauty and vastness of the Pacific Ocean and the Kuroshio Current.
My desire is to share their distinctive beauty with friends on land, allowing people to see the world through the perspective of a fisherman at sea, as well as introducing them to the extraordinary species of fish and cetaceans that inhabit our waters. A view from the ocean is so different from a view from the land. I therefore began recording my thoughts and observations through writing, eventually being recognised as a writer of Taiwanese ocean literature. Apart from my writing, I have also participated in a variety of marine projects, hoping to initiate more ocean conservation projects for Taiwan.
Image credit: Marissa Rodriguez via Unsplash.
About the speaker
Born in Hualien, in 1957, Liao Hung-chi has spent much of his life at sea. He was once a fisherman, but also carried out cetacean observation programmes at sea for many years, and pioneered whale-watching activities in Taiwan. He was the founding Chair of the Kuroshio Ocean Education Foundation and the Hualien Formosa Association. He currently holds the position of Adjunct Associate Professor at National Taiwan Ocean University.
For more than 40 years, Liao has participated in numerous marine research and conservation projects and has transformed his experiences at sea into writing. His publications include essays, reportage, Tâi-gí poetry, and novels. His writings have been widely included in school textbooks as part of the national curriculum in Taiwan. His more recent works include the Tâi-gí poetry collection Eyebrows at the Edge of the Sky, and the novels 77 Marine Reserve and The Fish Girl.
