PROFILE

C. T. Au’s academic journey was profoundly shaped by her BA honors project, which examined the interdisciplinary approach of poet-architect Lin Huiyin and her exploration of the relationship between modernist poetry, space, and lyrical concepts. Over time, C. T. Au has developed these areas into key fields of study, including comparative analyses of Chinese modernisms—with a particular focus on modernist poetry—and the connections between modernist movements and former colonial cities such as Macao, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Taipei. She has also cultivated an interest in Chinese lyrical traditions and their relationship to modernism, especially the lyricism evident in Hong Kong modernist poetry, fiction, films, and popular culture.

Supported by grants from the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Macao SAR Government, C. T. Au has advanced her research through multiple competitive awards. These include three General Research Fund (GRF) grants—covering topics such as Hong Kong modernism (2015/1–2017/6; 2023/1–2024/6) and the Hong Kong lyrical tradition (2022/1–2022/12)—as well as a Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao’s Academic Research Grant for her work on Macanese modernist poetry (2014/3–2016/12). Her publication, 《東西之間：梁秉鈞的中間詩學論》(The Inbetweenness of East and West Matters: A Study of Leung Ping-kwan’s Poetics), was honored with the 16th Hong Kong Biennial Award for Chinese Literature. Currently, she is completing the final chapter of a monograph exploring Hong Kong’s lyrical tradition.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Comparative Chinese modernisms
• Comparative poetics
• Hong Kong lyrical tradition
• Modern Chinese poetry

BOOKS

Hong Kong Literature (1919-1949): A Bilingual Edition, co-edited with Robert Tsaturyan. London: Balestier Press, (Forthcoming)

《無歲無時：澳門現代主義詩潮導論》(Introducing Macanese Modernist Poetry)，澳門（Macao）：澳門特別行政區政府文化局 (the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government)，2023。

《東西之間：梁秉鈞的中間詩學論》(The Inbetweenness of East and West Matters: A Study of Leung Ping-kwan’s Poetics)，香港 (Hong Kong)：中華書局 (Chunghwa Book)，2020。

The Hong Kong Modernism of Leung Ping-kwan. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2020.

The Aesthetics of Taiwanese Modernist Poetry since 1950s. Leiden, Boston: Brill, 2008.

JOURNAL ARTICLES/BOOK CHAPTERS

The Fundamental Tenets of Early Hong Kong Modernism”. Modernism/Modernity Print Plus, (Forthcoming).

“Georg Brandes and the Development of the Chinese Lyrical Tradition”. Acta Universitatis Carolinae – Philologica Vol 2023 No 1 (2023), 63-76.

〈澳門現代主義詩中的「詩史」傳統〉(“The Shishi Tradition of Macanese Modernist Poetry”) 《中國現代文學》Chinese Modern Literature, 41, 67-91. Taiwan：June 2022.

“Out of the Ashes: On Hong Kong Literature Studies 2010-2020”. Archiv Orientální 89, no. 2 (2021): 429–442. DOI: 10.47979/aror.j.89.2.429-442.

〈香港抒情傳統論述的形態：以〈客途秋恨〉在《胭脂扣》及〈永盛街興衰史〉的轉化為例〉 (“Essential Aspects of Hong Kong Lyrical Discourse: A Study of the Transformation of ‘Sorrow on an Autumn Trip’ into Rouge and ‘The Rise and Fall of Wing Shing Street’”) 《清華中文學報》 Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Literature, 26, 259-301. Taiwan：December 2021.

〈民國女子：張愛玲對理性的接受情況〉(Women in the Republic of China Era: A Study of Eileen Chang’s Reception of Rationality). Mínguó wénxué yǔ wénhuà yánjiū jíkān《 民國文學與文化研究集刊》(Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies of the Republic of China), 6, 258-271. Taipei: December 2019.

〈劉以鬯的現代主義〉(The Modernism of Liu Yichang).《名作欣賞》(Masterpiece), 1, 58-63. Shanxi: 2019.

〈想像「民國文學」: 馬朗在《文藝新潮》中的「民國文學」想像〉 (The Imaginative Literature of Republican Period of China in Ma Lang’s Wenyi Xinchao)。 Mínguó wénxué yǔ wénhuà yánjiū jíkān《民國文學與文化研究集刊》(Journal of Literature and Cultural Studies of the Republic of China), 3, 94-119. Taipei: 2018。

〈也斯旅遊文學中的多元角度〉 ( “Multiple perspectives on Yasi's travel writing”)。《中外文學》 Chung Wai Literary Quarterly, 46 (1), 45-75. Taipei： 2017。

“Reading Colonial Dis-ease/Disease in Hong Kong Modernist Fiction”. New Directions in Literature and Medicine Studies. Edited by Stephanie M. Hilger. London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017 (267-280).

〈詩經練習: 試論梁秉鈞對香港現代主義詩歌抒情性的繼承〉 ( “Shijing Lianxi: A Study of Leung Ping-kwan’s Reception of Lyricism in Hong Kong Modernist Poetry” )。《淡江中文學報》(Tamkang Journal of Chinese Literature)，32，313-330。Taipei： 2015。

“Contesting Space in Semi-colonial Shanghai: The Relationship between Shanghai's Modernist Poetry and the City”. Asian Studies, I(XVII), 107-123. Ljubljana: 2013.

"Colonized Modernism: A Study of the Characteristics of Dai Wangshu's Modernist Poetry". Korea Journal of Chinese Language and Literature, 1, 315-331. Korea: 2011.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

“Toy Flânerie: Exploring Xi Xi’s Modernist Engagement with Toys”. British Association for Chinese Studies: 2025 Annual Conference (BACS), United Kingdom: University of Leicester, September 2025.

“Lyrical Modernism: A Study of the Relationship Between Hong Kong Modernism and Chinese Lyrical Tradition”. The 25th Conference of the European Association of Chinese Studies (EACS), Estonia: Tallinn University, August 2024.

“A Study of the Relationship between Lomen’s Poetry and his Poetic Theory”. Gravity and Grace: Aesthetic Constellations in Contemporary Chinese, Sinophone Canadian Poetry. Edmonton: University of Alberta, September 2023.

“The Fundamental Tenets of Early Hong Kong Modernism”. Thinking Storytelling in Hong Kong Symposium. Hong Kong: HKU, June 2023.

“Georg Brandes and the Development of the Chinese Lyrical Tradition”. Brandes online workshop - AUC Philologica, Prague, October 2022.

“Hong Kong Modernism of Stephen Spender: A Study of Wenyi Xinchao”. The Modernist Studies Association Annual Conference: Upheaval and Reconstruction, Toronto, October 2019.

“Inventing Everyday Life: A Study of Leung Ping-kwan’s Clothes Poems”. The Modernist Studies in Asia 2019 Tokyo Conference, Tokyo, September 2019.

“The Invention of Home: A Study of Leung Ping-kwan’s Poetics of the Everyday”. The 2019 meeting of the Association of Chinese and Comparative Literature, Changsha, July 2019.

“The Poetics of In-between-ness: A Study of Leung Ping-kwan’s Translations”. The 72nd Annual RMMLA Convention. Wyoming: University of Wyoming, October 2018.

“Alternative Travelogue: A Study of Leung Ping-kwan’s Modernist Novels”. The International Conference on Modernisms and Modernities East, West and South: Comparing Literary and Cultural Experiences. Shanghai: Fudan University, July 2017.

“The Theme of Identity Formation in ‘Clothink’”. The 2017 Association of Chinese & Comparative Literature Conference. Hong Kong: The Chinese University of Hong Kong, June 2017.

“The Desire of the Translator: A Study of Leung Ping-kwan’s Translations”. The XXI Congress of International Comparative Literature Association. Vienna: University of Vienna, July 2016.

“The Borrowed Non‐place: A Study of temporality and spatiality in Hong Kong modernist fiction before 1997”. ICAS 8 at Macao: The East-West Crossroads, Macao, June 2013.

〈詩經練習: 試論梁秉鈞對香港現代主義詩歌抒情性的繼承和轉化〉[“Shijing Lianxi: A Study of Leung Ping-kwan’s Reception of Lyricism in Hong Kong Modernist Poetry”]. 「香港五十年代與今天會議」. 香港 (Hong Kong): 香港嶺南大學, May 2013.

“The Fall of Doctors: The Reception of Western Medicine in Hong Kong Literature”. The XXth Congress of International Comparative Literature Association. Paris: University of Paris IV, Paris-Sorbonne, July 2013.

“Contesting Space in Semicolonial Shanghai: A Study of the Relationship Between Shanghai Modernist Poetry and the Semicolonial City”. 2nd International Conference on Specific Topics in Chinese Studies (STCS). Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana, October 2011.

“Time Difference and Cultural Reception: A Study of Leung Ping-kwan’s Flaneur”. The XIXth Congress of International Comparative Literature Association. Seoul, August 2010.

“Colonized Modernism: A Study of the Characteristics of Dai Wangshu’s Modernist Poetry”. The XVIII Biennial Conference of the European Association of Chinese Studies. Riga: University of Latvia, July 2010.

INTERVIEWS

A podcast interview on 《東西之間：梁秉鈞的中間詩學論》 (The Inbetweenness of East and West Matters: A Study of Leung Ping-kwan's Poetics). Hong Kong: Radio Television Hong Kong Podcast “Kai Juan Le”開卷樂 (Reading for Joy), May 1, 2021.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES

C. T. Au is currently affiliated with MALCS at HKU, focusing on research in comparative Chinese modernisms and comparative poetics. She has previously gained experience in teaching, research, and administration at the Education University of Hong Kong and the University of Macau.

COURSES TAUGHT

• CLIT 7011 Hong Kong and Beyond
• CLIT 7016 Topics in Contemporary Chinese Literature and Culture