19歲劍橋大學經濟系香港學生Eric Yip，昨日（3月31日）獲頒英國國家詩詞比賽（National Poetry Competition）冠軍，為該獎項最年輕得主。
奪冠詩題為Fricatives，為英文發音術語，與港人難克服的「f」和「th」等發音有關，如「free」和「three」。
詩篇以此概念觸及多種主題，例如老師說要學好英文便要分清發音，並以一些事件饒成急口令示範差異。而這些發音有賴舌頭，人在異鄉，而舌尖不同的活動，如嘴上「崇洋」發音，但同時會品嘗中式餐廳食物等。
評審點評說，本詩涉獵主題包括殖民、種族、移民、歸屬感和離鄉別井的悔疚等。評審Fiona Benson形容，此詩極具雄心且成就非凡。
得悉獲獎，Eric Yip稱感到驚喜，「我才19歲，我想未來還有很多詩要看、要寫。我視得獎為一種鼓勵我繼續寫作和進步的開始。」
得獎詩全文
Fricatives by Eric Yip
To speak English properly, Mrs Lee said, you must learn
the difference between three and free. Three men
escaped from Alcatraz in a rubber raft and drowned
on their way to Angel Island. Hear the difference? Try
this: you fought your way into existence. Better. Look
at this picture. Fresh yellow grains beaten
till their seeds spill. That's threshing. That's
submission. You must learn to submit
before you can learn. You must be given
a voice before you can speak. Nobody wants to listen
to a spectacled boy with a Hong Kong accent.
You will have to leave this city, these dark furrows
stuffed full with ancestral bones. Know
that death is thorough. You will speak of bruised bodies
skinnier than yours, force the pen past batons
and blood, call it fresh material for writing. Now
they're paying attention. You're lucky enough
to care about how the tongue moves, the seven types
of fricatives, the articulatory function of teeth
sans survival. You will receive a good education
abroad and make your parents proud. You will take
a stranger's cock in your mouth in the piss-slick stall
of that dingy Cantonese restaurant you love and taste
where you came from, what you were made of all along.
Put some work into it, he growls. C'mon, give me
some bite. Your mother visits one October, tells you
how everyone speaks differently here, more proper.
You smile, nod, bring her to your favourite restaurant,
order dim sum in English. They're releasing
the students arrested five years ago. Just a tad more
soy sauce please, thank you. The television replays
yesterday on repeat. The teapots are refilled. You spoon
served rice into your mouth, this perfect rice.
Steamed, perfect, white.