Floating Clouds

【No Door to Hell. Disaster Rises from Silence, Life is Reborn from Ruin】 "Beginning with the unpredictable, followed by cries, sighs, destruction, mystery, fear, steadfastness, and dreams." *Floating Clouds* is the debut essay collection from young writer Lee Yat Hong, featuring nearly twenty recent essays. Titled "The Unforeseen," the book delves not into grand natural disasters or man-made calamities, but rather into the gradual unraveling within everyday experiences. Lee expands fleeting moments into an infinite chain of fate. We see this in "Electric Illusions of Nara," where persistent guardians dedicate their lives to protecting fragile scriptures through the long years; in "White as a Baby," where a naive dog is repeatedly sold, and a young mother's trust in humanity slowly erodes; and in "Sketching Before Heian Shrine," where the author, amidst a popular festival, focuses on the sacrifices overlooked by the grand sweep of history. Lee Yat Hong's time studying in Japan brought not only cultural shock but also the threat of natural disasters: earthquakes, floods, and heatwaves. Immersed in the "shadow island" prone to calamities, one is forced to confront impermanence. Yet, his experiences abroad inevitably echo and overlap with his scarred homeland, Hong Kong, transforming as they merge with local memories. The vast human world carries transient wanderers with no place to belong, sometimes manifesting as a northern library on an island nation, or in a fleeting moment, a bustling, rebellious minibus. Unlike typical travel essays, the author's vision extends beyond mere geography, viewing life itself as a broad, overarching journey. Throughout this lengthy voyage, he has visited actual foreign lands; he has been to the homeland described by a Muay Thai coach, the iron kingdom of the gym; he has heard the echoes of war from another end of history, lurking within everyday objects, destined to reach future ears. "I cannot escape the doorless hell, so I can only open myself, letting things swirl and unfold. This is not a perfect conclusion, but for now, we must find a way to settle." ◎ Endorsements "Bidding farewell to old traditions, calling for new sensibilities"—Fan Shan-biao (Hong Kong essayist, university professor) "The 'drifting' subjects here are governed by a dual timeline, overlapping with present scrutiny and past remembrance. They emerge plainly only after the representational regime of words temporarily halts the violence of time. Experiences that should be irreversible in reality are granted opportunities for looseness and extension through the intervention and mediation of the materiality of text, becoming a kind of Proustian act of salvation." —Tsai Lin-sen (Taiwanese poet, essayist) "The outside world washes over his vision—Kyoto, Beijing, Thailand; the inner world churns—doubt, desire, vulnerability—and Lee Yat Hong uses his own body as a vessel for imagination, lightly and steadfastly adjusting his posture. The lightness is inevitably accompanied by a rigorous process of cultivation. With a hard-won, steady style, he departs from a Hong Kong-centric perspective, precisely capturing the emotions and imagery that resemble floating clouds." —Mu Yu (Young Hong Kong author) ◎ Author Biography Lee Yat Hong is a young writer from Hong Kong. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Hong Kong Baptist University and is an editor for the literary magazine *Fleurs des Lettres*. He excels in essays, fiction, and criticism, having received awards such as the University Literary Award, the Cross-Strait Three-Regions Short Story Competition, and the Chinese Literary Creation Award. For many years, he has focused on creative writing education, participating in the "PenPossible" creative writing program funded by the Ho Hung Sun Family Foundation and serving as a creative writing tutor in various secondary schools. He is currently a lecturer in the Department of Humanities and Creative Writing at Hong Kong Baptist University. His works have been published in *Ming Pao*, *Sample*, *Sounds and Spectrums: Fleurs des Lettres Ten-Year Anthology of Fiction*, and others. ◎ Publication Information 《 Floating Clouds 》 Author: Lee Yat Hong Photography: Ng Chak Lau Binding Design: Li Ka Man Publisher: Postscript Literary Studio Price: HKD 128 / NTD 510 Hong Kong Distribution: Pan-Asia Distribution Agency Ltd. Taiwan Distribution: Red Ant Books Co., Ltd.