Ya-Wen Ho (賀雅雯) was born in Taipei, grew up in Bucklands Beach, Tāmaki Makaurau, and currently lives in and works from Te Whanganui-a-Tara. A poet, essayist, letterpress researcher, graphic designer and zine-maker, she works for the Chinese Scholars’ Studio at Wai-te-ata Press, Victoria University of Wellington, where she cleans and archives a unique collection of Chinese metal type once used to print the NZ Chinese Growers’ Monthly Journal (1952–72), researches the Chinese New Zealand history of the journal and contextualises it within broader Chinese-language print histories. Ya-Wen designed the English-Mandarin bilingual edition of Best New Zealand Poems 2014 and enjoys the ambiguous spaces where disciplines overlap. She works bilingually between Mandarin and English, merging the languages in poetry performance.

The recipient of a Horoeka / Lancewood Reading Grant and the Emma Saiko Poetry Fellowship at NZ Pacific Studio, her first book of poetry last edited [insert time here] was published by Hawaiian-based Tinfish Press. She is concerned that ‘certain kinds of writing remain marginalised . . . whether due to its content or its form of expression’. She says, ‘Writing is an assertive act . . . I write to synthesise all the culture I voraciously consume into something of my own that I can feed back into the conversation. I do not want non-participation to render me invisible again.’

Verb Readers & Writers Festival 2022 appearance:
Toi Te Kupu, Wednesday 2 November, Rongomaraeroa · Te Marae · Level 4, Te Papa (FREE event)