The Common Press is proud to be hosting an evening with Hongwei Bao, author of ‘The Passion of the Rabbit God’ on 5 October at 7 pm. The book is a collection of poems reclaiming queer East Asian heritage and celebrating queer East Asian identity, sexuality and desire.
This book starts with a rewriting of the Rabbit God story, the patron saint of queer people in East and Southeast Asia. The book is at once mythological, personal, intimate and political. In verses alive with longing and resistance, Bao’s poems ask: what does it mean to love, defy and bloom as a queer, Asian soul in our ever changing world?
‘From queer Chinese mythology (I loved reading about the Rabbit God) to post-Brexit Great Britain, Hongwei Bao’s debut poetry collection brims with intellect and is wide-ranging in scope.’ Elaine Chiew, author of The Light Between Us.
‘Hongwei Bao's poems have a clarity of vision, thought, and expression.’ Ali Lewis, author of Absence.
About Hongwei Bao
Hongwei Bao (he/they) grew up in Inner Mongolia, China, and teaches at the University of Nottingham. He writes poetry, flash fiction and short stories in English as a second language. His work is largely informed by his migration experience and explores the issue of identity, especially queer and East Asian identities – how they have been historically and socially marginalised and how people live within and without their limits. He is the author of the poetry pamphlet Dream of the Orchid Pavilion (Big White Shed Press, 2024) and poetry collection The Passion of The Rabbit God (Valley Press, 2024). His work navigates the in- between spaces between linguistic, cultural and literary traditions.
His nonfiction work Queering the Asian Diaspora: East and Southeast Asian Sexuality, Identity and Cultural Politics will be published by Sage in December. Find him on X (@Patrickbao1) and Instagram (@Patrickbao123).