Renowned poet Li Kuei-hsien (李魁賢) passed away on Jan. 15 at the age of 87. At his memorial service on Apr. 6, Minister of Culture Li Yuan presented a presidential citation in recognition of Li Kuei-hsien’s pioneering contributions to Taiwanese poetry. The citation was received on his behalf by his son, Li Ssu-fei (李斯棐).
The late poet made his debut with the poem “Sakura (櫻花)” in 1953 when he was still a student at the Tamsui Junior High School. In 1956, he joined the Modernist, a poetry club led by Chi Hsuan (紀弦). He published his first poetry collection, “Columbarium and Others (靈骨塔及其他)” in 1963 and joined Li Poetry Society (笠詩社) the following year. Additionally, he dedicated himself into translating German literature, especially the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, leaving a profound impact on Taiwan’s poetry.
Li received numerous prestigious honors, including the National Award for Arts, the National Cultural Award, and the Wu San-lien Literary Award (吳三連文學獎). He was also nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by an Indian poetry society in 2001, 2003, and 2006. His poetry has been translated into several languages, such as Japanese, Korean, Romanian, Greek, Spanish, and Mongolian.
Among the distinguished guests in attendance at the memorial service were President Wang Sea-fue (王錫福) of National Taipei University of Technology, Director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) of the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, and Chairman Lin Chi-yang (林淇瀁) of the National Culture and Arts Foundation.