Jay Gao is a Chinese Scottish poet and writer from

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Early life and education

Jay Gao was born in Preston in 1994 but was raised in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and

. After attending the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, he later earned his MFA in Literary Arts (Poetry) from

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

. He is currently a PhD student in English Literature at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Career

Between 2017 and 2022, Gao began publishing under the name Jay G Ying, publishing two poetry pamphlets during this time: ''Wedding Beasts'' (2019), shortlisted for the 2019 Callum MacDonald Memorial Award; and ''Katabasis'' (2020), winner of the 2019 New Poets Prize, judged by

Mary Jean Chan Mary Jean Chan is a Hong Kong-Chinese poet, lecturer, editor and critic whose debut poetry collection, ''Flèche'' (Faber, 2019), won the 2019 Costa Book Award for Poetry. Chan's second book, ''Bright Fear'', was published by Faber & Faber in 2 ...

. In 2018, Gao co-founded the Scottish BPOC Writers Network with Alycia Pirmohamed as an "advocacy and professional development group for Scottish and Scotland-based writers and literary professionals who identify as BPOC (Black people, People of Colour)". In 2019, Gao participated in the

Palestine Festival of Literature The Palestine Festival of Literature (PalFest) is an annual literary festival, founded in 2008, that takes place in cities across West Bank, Palestine. History The festival was founded in 2008 with the stated mission of affirming "the powe ...

as a visiting author, alongside writers including Victoria Adukwei Bulley and

Natalie Diaz Natalie Diaz (born September 4, 1978) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning Mojave American poet, language activist, former professional basketball player, and educator. She is enrolled in the Gila River Indian Community and identifies as Akimel O'odham. ...

. In 2020, Gao was part of a delegation for the 35th

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Literature Seminar in Hamburg, in collaboration with Literaturhaus Hamburg, in order to promote new Scottish literature and voices alongside

Louise Welsh Louise Welsh (born 1 February 1965 in London) is an English-born author of short stories and psychological thrillers, resident in Glasgow, Scotland. She has also written three plays, an opera, edited volumes of prose and poetry, and contributed ...

, Mary Paulson-Ellis,

Malachy Tallack Malachy Tallack (born 20 November 1980) is a Shetland singer-songwriter, journalist and author, who was born in England and moved to Shetland with his family when he was ten years old. He edited the magazine ''Shetland Life'', and founded the o ...

, and

Kirsty Logan Kirsty Logan (born 13 March 1984) is a Scottish writer. Logan lives in Glasgow. She wrote her undergraduate thesis on retold fairytales, and her work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. She cites Emma Donoghue and Angela Carter as her main infl ...

. In 2022, his debut poetry collection, ''Imperium'', was published by Carcanet and was subsequently a winner of the 2023 Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize, a

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to ...

, and an

Eric Gregory Award The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by United Kingdom poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. Past winne ...

. ''Imperium'' was also a runner-up for the 2022 Edwin Morgan Poetry Award and long-listed for the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award. He also published a poetry pamphlet ''TRAVESTY58'' in 2022. In 2022, his short story "The Baron and His Volcano" won the 2022 Desperate Literature Short Fiction Prize, a prize that aims to celebrate international writers of experimental fiction. His writing has received support from literary institutions and residencies such as

Bread Loaf Writers' Conference The Middlebury Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is an author's conference held every summer at the Bread Loaf Inn, near Bread Loaf Mountain, east of Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1926, it has been called by ''The New Yorker'' "the oldest and most ...

Tin House ''Tin House'' is an American literary magazine and book publisher based in Portland, Oregon, and New York City. History Portland publisher Win McCormack originally conceived the idea for a literary magazine called ''Tin House'' in the summer ...

Civitella Ranieri Foundation The Civitella Ranieri Foundation is an American Community arts, artists’ community located at a 15th-century castle in the Umbria region of Italy. The Foundation provides four sessions of six-week long unstructured residencies every year to v ...

, and

Community of Writers Founded in 1969 the Community of Writers is a writers' conference held each summer in Olympic Valley, California. The Community of Writers is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization and has a governing Board of Directors. History The Community of Writ ...

. A former Contributing Editor for ''

The White Review ''The White Review'' is a London-based magazine on literature and the visual arts. It is published in print and online. History Founding ''The White Review'' was founded by editors Benjamin Eastham and Jacques Testard, and released its firs ...

'', he currently reads for ''

Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

''.

Works

Poetry Collections

* 2022: ''Imperium'' (

Carcanet Press Carcanet Press is a publisher, primarily of poetry, based in the United Kingdom. Originally a student magazine devised by undergraduates collaborating between Oxford and Cambridge, it was refounded in 1969 by Michael Schmidt. In 2000 it was nam ...

)

Poetry Pamphlets/Chapbooks

* 2024: ''Bark, Archive, Splinter'' ( Out-Spoken Press) * 2024: ''Bark, Archive, Splinter'' ( Belladonna*) * 2022: ''TRAVESTY58: Lake Poems'' (SPAM Press) * 2020: ''Katabasis'' (Smith, Doorstop) * 2019: ''Wedding Beasts'' (Bitter Melon)

Awards

* 2023: Michael Murphy Memorial Poetry Prize (''Imperium'') * 2023:

(''Imperium'') * 2023:

(''Imperium'') * 2022: The Desperate Literature Prize for Short Fiction ("The Baron and His Volcano") * 2022:

The London Magazine ''The London Magazine'' is the title of six different publications that have appeared in succession since 1732. All six have focused on the arts, literature and poetry. A number of Nobel Laureates, including Annie Ernaux, Albert Camus, Doris Les ...

Poetry Prize ("Sky Soldier") * 2019: New Poets Prize (''Katabasis'') * 2017: The

Poetry Book Society The Poetry Book Society (PBS) is a British subscription-based book club dedicated to selecting, recommending and publicising new poetry books. Every quarter, it selects two Poetry Book Society Choices and four Poetry Book Society Recommendations. ...

Student Poetry Prize ("Scattering")

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gao, Jay 1994 births Living people Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British Asian writers Brown University alumni Scottish male poets Scottish male writers Scottish people of Chinese descent Writers from Edinburgh Writers from Glasgow Writers from Preston, Lancashire