Lin Yang-min (; born 1955) is a Taiwanese

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

. Lin's body of work totals over twenty published volumes of novels, short stories, poems, essays and criticism. His ''Rouge Tears'', a poem of 110,000 words set in 9,000 lines, is the first

epic poem An epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. ...

to be written in Taiwanese. A number of his poems, including "Never Disregard Taiwan", have been set to music by Taiwanese composer

Tyzen Hsiao Tyzen Hsiao (; 1 January 1938 – 24 February 2015) was a Taiwanese composer of the neo-Romantic school. Many of his vocal works set poems written in Taiwanese Hokkien, the mother tongue of the majority of the island's residents at the time. H ...

. He is a recipient of numerous awards, including the United Daily News Prize for Literature and the Rong Hou Award for Taiwanese Poetry. Lin, a native of

Taibao Taibao (Hokkien POJ: ''Thài-pó'') is a county-administered city and the county seat of Chiayi County, Taiwan. Name The city was named after the government position of Wang De-lu, whose hometown is Taibao, in the 19th century. History Forme ...

Chiayi County Chiayi County (Mandarin pinyin: ''jiā yì xiàn''; Hokkien POJ: ''Ka-gī-koān'') is a county in southwestern Taiwan surrounding but not including Chiayi City. It is the sixth largest county in Taiwan. Name The former Chinese placename was ...

, studied at Chiayi Normal College and

Fu Jen Catholic University Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU, FJCU or Fu Jen; or ) is a private Catholic university in Xinzhuang, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The university was founded in 1925 in Beijing at the request of Pope Pius XI and re-established in Taiwan in 1961 at ...

. In 1983 he began writing works in

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan (Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, r ...

. His interest in the creation and promotion of a distinctively Taiwanese literature accompanied a growing interest in

democratic reform Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

and Taiwanese national identity. His treatment of taboo subjects such as the

White Terror White Terror is the name of several episodes of mass violence in history, carried out against anarchists, communists, socialists, liberals, revolutionaries, or other opponents by conservative or nationalist groups. It is sometimes contrasted wit ...

under

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

led to his works being officially banned by the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

government from 1987 to 1989. Today his works from the 1980s are considered landmarks in the

Taiwanese literature movement The Taiwanese literature movement (also Taiwan literature movement, Nativist literature movement) refers to the effort of authors, poets, dramatists, musicians, and publishers in Taiwan to establish recognition of a distinctly Taiwanese body of l ...

. Lin now resides in Taoyuan.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lin, Yang-Min Living people 1955 births Taiwanese poets Fu Jen Catholic University alumni People from Chiayi County

See also

References