Poetry talk with Yen Ai-Lin on her collection 'Bone Skin Flesh'

The Centre of Taiwan Studies is delighted to host Yen Ai-Lin, one of Taiwan’s most influential contemporary poets, for a conversation on her poetry collection Bone Skin Flesh. 

This is a work that reshaped the landscape of contemporary Taiwanese poetry with its bold and intimate exploration of the body, femininity, and desire.

Bone Skin Flesh is the landmark work of Taiwanese poet Yen Ai-Lin. First published in 1997, it drew wide attention for its candid exploration of femininity and its groundbreaking series of erotic poems, making Yen the first female poet in Taiwan to publish such a body of work. Her poetry delves into gender and desire, leaving a lasting impact on readers and contemporary literary discourse.

Divided into six sections, the collection brims with visceral textures—bodies entangled with the world, desire and emotion interwoven with wakefulness and dreams. Rather than passing lightly, the poems take root 'in you, on you, and out of you'.

Translator Jenn Marie Nunes calls Yen’s work a 'profound and sticky pleasure', noting affinities with Gurlesque poetics: a bold performance of femininity that risks the grotesque. Yet Yen’s voice extends beyond, blending tenderness, punk sincerity, and reverence for the feminine in its many forms.