Hongwei Bao (Spoken Label, January 2026)

 

Back with our first Podcast of 2026, Spoken Label (Spoken Word / Poetry Podcast)'s 1st show of the year features Hongwei Bao.

Hongwei Bao (he/him) is a Nottingham-based queer Chinese writer, translator and academic. He is part of the Fifth Word Playwrights, GOBS Spoken Word Collective and Nottingham Playhouse Writers’ Room. He is also a Middle Way Mentee for writing fiction and a New Earth Theatre theatremaker. His work explores queer desire, Asian identity, diasporic positionality and transcultural intimacy.

Hongwei is the author of Dream of the Orchid Pavilion (poetry pamphlet, Big White Shed, 2024), The Passion of the Rabbit God (poetry collection, Valley Press, 2024) and Queering the Asian Diaspora (nonfiction, Sage, 2024). His short story ‘A Postcard from Berlin’ was a runner-up for the Plaza Prize for Microfiction in 2023.

Hongwei has performed poetry at Bad Betty Live, City Arts Nottingham, Dandelions Poetry, DIY Poetry, ESEA Authors LitFest, ESA NE Newcastle, Five Leaves Bookshop, Fluent in Both, Lighthouse Bookshop Edinburgh, Kif Kif Antwerp, Nottingham Central Library, Nottingham Poetry Festival, Nottingham Playhouse, Notts Poetry, Nowhere Netherlands, Paper Crane Poetry, Prague Pride, Shaded Writers, Speech Therapy, and The Common Press London.

This Podcast discusses his newest book on Poetic Edge Publishers 'Self-Portrait as a Banana which is discussed as "Hongwei Bao’s latest collection, Self-Portrait as a Banana, is a candid exploration of his queer, diasporic, East Asian identity and cross-cultural relationships. Appropriating, subverting and queering cultural tropes like the banana, rice and beckoning cat, and identities such as queerness and Chineseness, this is a powerful journey. A bold, humorous and refreshing celebration of queer desire, identity and cultural difference"

More about Hon can be found at:

Instagram: @patrickbao123

Bluesky: @queercomrades

The book can be found at: https://poeticedgepublishers.com/hongwei-bao/

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The Podcast be can be found at:

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/hongwei-bao-spoken-label-january-2026/id1501847969?i=1000744148602

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/spokenlabelpodcast/episodes/Hongwei-Bao-Spoken-Label--January-2026-e3d4gpg

https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/bae49616-2295-4e7c-b931-91415a724cb6/episodes/8f88135a-4629-4e88-8496-0c1cbad15b64/spoken-label-hongwei-bao-spoken-label-january-2026

https://www.audible.co.uk/podcast/Hongwei-Bao-Spoken-Label-January-2026/B0GDDHWSCD?ref_pageloadid=not_applicable&pf_rd_p=a202f891-0d90-47a2-ac3f-8ebc4b2943db&pf_rd_r=7FPJYCHNNE74ETR0NWR0&plink=Ds5QMcKszI7Gasjj&pageLoadId=SlwBN4AHUn8dRtSn&creativeId=43463e8d-6f2b-4d01-a759-854a1034c4b8&ref=a_podcast_S_c4_lAsin_0_0

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4rRgMjTXIiRVIp4VuLpuLw

https://andynartist.substack.com/p/hongwei-bao-spoken-label-poetry-spoken

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfCMjPXq2v4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j4VnLkMgyI