Yu-Hsuan Wu is a Taiwanese poet, interdisciplinary artist, curator, and arts educator. She studied butoh in Japan and graduated from the Creative Writing Program at the Institute of American Indian Arts (USA), and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Arts at the University of Lapland in Finland, within the Arctic Circle. She is the author of 13 books, including Exchanging Lovers’ Ribs, Longing for the Infinite, and Carrying My Homeland with Me. Her work has earned her artist residencies at the Santa Fe Art Institute (USA), Jane St. Art Center (New York), and La Porte Peinte (France). Wu currently serves as the Artistic Director of Born in Obsession 走向刀鋒, a contemporary cultural laboratory that invites people to explore both the body of poetry and the poetry of the body.
As a reader and critic, she is concerned with how the “gaze” within narrative frameworks confers meaning upon things, and with how, in tracing this gaze of meaning, a perceptual space is created within speech where emotion reverberates and semantic sense dissolves. As a creator, she practices speaking, like an early human, of what she sees, loves, and has lost. As an arts educator, she builds poetic ritual spaces through courses and workshops, awakening the desire to be alive. She believes that the questions of life can only answer themselves through the deepest emotions at the most delicate moments. As a nomad who takes the world as her home, she longs to lead undercurrents to the surface—the intimacy between human beings and all things is the trust that in nature there is a path that leads to you, and in you there is also a path that belongs to nature.
Mail Yu-Hsuan: qffwffq@gmail.com
【Education】
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2026–present Doctor of Arts, Faculty of Art and Design, University of Lapland, Finland
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2022–2025 MFA in Creative Writing, Institute of American Indian Arts, USA
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2013–2014 Graduate Studies in Interdisciplinary Arts, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Taiwan (incomplete)
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2007–2010 Graduate Studies in Film, Taipei National University of the Arts, Taiwan (incomplete)
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2002–2006 BA in Chinese Literature, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan
【Publications】
2025 Missing, Born in Obsession
2025 Aspiration: Letters from the Borderlands, Homeward Publishing
2024 Walking with Hometown, Chiu Ko Publishing
2022 As Dusk Falls, Someone Sets the Field Alight, Zebra Books
2022 Exchanging Lovers’ Ribs (10th Anniversary Edition), Zebra Books
2021 Nostalgia for the Infinite, Zebra Books
2021 Exchanging Lovers’ Ribs, Mirror Fiction — audio poetry collection
2021 Death Is Dying, self-published
2019 The Forgetting of Form: Sketches from My Residency in Santa Fe, self-published
2018 Fleeing for Life, self-published
2016 Living in Nowhere, self-published
2016 The World Without Names, Comma Books
2014 Decaying Wherever: A Little Movie Fan’s Ninety-Nine Love Letters, Comma Books
2012 Exchanging Lovers’ Ribs, Comma Books
【Poetry and Butoh Performance】
2026 White Fur, national park in Finland, Sámi traditional territory
2023 Life and Death Arrive, La Porte Peinte, France
2023 Mother, Dia Beacon, New York, USA
2018 Falling Blue, Santa Fe Art Institute, USA
2016 Space of Nothingness, Engaku-ji Temple, Kamakura, Japan
2016 The World Without Names: Writing Poems with the Body, commissioned by Taipei Fine Arts Museum
2016 The World Without Names: Sound Experiment and Butoh Improvisation, Former Japanese Navy Fongshan Communication Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2013 Bringing the Poet Home, Taipei Poetry Festival project, Losheng Sanatorium, Taiwan
2013 Exchanging Lovers’ Ribs: Cross-Genre Poetry Performance, Bamboo Curtain Studio, Taipei, Taiwan
2011 Awakening at the End, Kamihoshikawa Tunnel, Yokohama, Japan
【Exhibitions】
2026 Hämärässä joku sytyttää pellon tuleen (As Dusk Falls, Someone Sets the Field Alight) — Photography and Poetry Exhibition, Gallery Puoti, Finland
2024 Relations — Interdisciplinary Group Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei
2023 Life and Death Arrive — Photo-Poetic Installation, La Porte Peinte, France
2020 Becoming Human — Documentary Exhibition, Taitung County Indigenous Cultural and Creative Industries Cluster, Taiwan
2020 The Forgetting of Form — Photopoetry Exhibition, Eslite Bookstore, Taitung, Taiwan
2018 The Forgetting of Form — Photo-Poetic Installation, Santa Fe Art Institute, USA
2018 One Year Old — Solo Photography Exhibition, Eslite Bookstore, Taitung, Taiwan
2016 Outside the Boundaries — Poetry Installation Group Exhibition, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan
2012 Europe and I, Eye to Eye — Photopoetry Exhibition, Eslite Bookstore, Taitung, Taiwan
【Interdisciplinary Workshops & Online Lecture Series】
2026 Poetry Reading & Creative Workshop, Vienna, Austria
2026 Lines by the Lake: An Embodied and Site-Responsive Workshop, Finland
2026 Life-Writing and Narrative Workshop, 4 sessions, MUVE NPO, Taiwan
2025 Born Along the Lines of Life: Poetry × Body Workshop, 4 sessions, Taipei Fine Arts Museum
2025 Heroes in My Heart: Children’s Creative Workshop, 5 sessions, Taichung Reading Festival
2025 Returning Light Enters the Deep Forest: 1990s Asian Cinema, 10-session online lecture series
2025 The Inner Solitude: 12 Humanistic and Artistic Lessons from the Nordic World, online lecture series
2024 My City, Clearly Myself: Interdisciplinary Art Workshop, Kishu An Forest of Literature, Taipei
2024 Stepping into Uncertainty: Interdisciplinary Art Workshop, Neiwei Arts Center, Kaohsiung
2024 Tell All the Truth but Tell It Slant: Poetry × Butoh Workshop, 2-day workshop, Chishang, Taitung
2024 Relations: Holy Spider Film and Poetry Salon, Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei
2024 The Map and Mirror Along the Journey, 10 creators × 10 online conversations
2024 Venturing into Risk, 10 artists × 10 online lectures
2023 Voices Emerging from the Blank: Reading Contemporary Poets of the Americas, 10-session online lecture series
2022 Must Die of Something: Interdisciplinary Art Workshop, 4-day workshop, Kaohsiung Literature Museum
2020 Between Light and Nowhere: Butoh Workshop, 2-day workshop, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan
2015 Everywhere at Once: Butoh Workshop, Treasure Hill Artist Village, Taipei
【Public Talks & Conversations】
2026 Recreating a Poem Between Two Languages: Steve Bradbury × Yu-Hsuan Wu in Translation, National Museum of Taiwan Literature, Tainan, Taiwan
2026 Wandering and Returning to the Essence of Life: Korean Writer Hong Seung-hee × Taiwanese Poet Yu-Hsuan Wu, online conversation
2025 A Taiwanese Poet Walking with Her Homeland, Granada, Spain
2025 Wrestling Between Image and Poem, Taipei Poetry Festival
2023 My Creative Path, University of California, Davis, USA
2023 Making Home Away from Home, Democratic School, Montenegro
2020 War and Poetic Imagination in Picturebooks, National Taichung Theater, Taiwan
2018 Until the Border Disappears, Trinity University, San Antonio, USA
2018 Crossing Borders, Becoming My Own Distant Land, Santa Fe Art Institute, USA
2014 Rebellious Images, Imagery in Rebellion, Broadway Cinematheque, Hong Kong
【Transnational Curation & Cultural Translation】
2026 Ministry of Culture, Taiwan, “Undefined Hybridity: ‘Taiwanese Sensibility’ in Texas”｜Nymphia Wind Cross-Disciplinary Cultural Conversation, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
2026 Ministry of Culture, Taiwan, “Taiwan POP: Taiwan Cultural Current in Manhattan”｜Float Design and Performance by Nymphia Wind, NYC Pride March
2026 Taiwan East Coast Land Arts Festival｜Nymphia Wind Performance, Moonlit Sea Concert
2026 Nymphia in Dulan｜Paper Mulberry Bark Cloth Workshop, Dulan, Taitung, Taiwan
2026 Megaport Festival｜Siri Lee ft. Nymphia Wind
2025 BANANAS?｜Nymphia Wind Performance, The Town Hall, New York
2025 World Masters Games｜Closing Ceremony Performance, Taiwan’s Treasure Island Bird
2025 Come Paint the Pride with Nymphia Wind!｜Treasure Hill Artist Village, Taipei
2024 Paris Cultural Olympiad｜Nymphia Wind and the House of Wind, Formosan Follies
2024 Presidential Office, Taiwan｜Nymphia Wind Drag Performance and Remarks
【Academic Presentations】
2026 “Before Experience Appears: Presence, Absence, and Workshop Dramaturgy in a Life-Writing Workshop.” Experience Research and the Play of Presence and Absence, Phenomenological Experience Research Network (PhenEx), University of Oulu, Finland.
2026 “Wandering as Method.” EARN Annual Gathering 2026: Harvesting Otherwise, Cluster: Collective Practices, Hospitality & Shared Knowledge, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Austria.
2026 “Learning to Step Back: Accompaniment, Walking, and Creative Encounters in Indigenous Educational Contexts.” Symposium for Early Career Researchers Working with Indigenous Issues 2026, Mid Sweden University, Sweden.
2026 “Workshop Dramaturgy as a Threshold Space: Creative Practice, Embodied Knowing, and Inner Landscapes.” Sociology Days 2026, Working Group: Creative Practice, Artistic Research, and the Social Sciences, University of Lapland, Finland.
2026 “The Body That Has Us: An Embodied and Place-Responsive Workshop on Lines, Weight, and Coexistence.” Third World Colloquium on Existential Posthumanism, IUAV University of Venice, Italy.
2026 “Workshop Dramaturgy as a Threshold Space.” NACER Seminar, University of Lapland, Finland.
2025 “Creating Poetic Ritual Spaces: Ten Years of Community Art Education in Taiwan and Peru.” NACER Seminar, University of Lapland, Finland.
2024 “Taiwan’s ‘Heart’ Radical Dictionary.” Mapping Taiwan Teaching, Taiwan as a Pioneer (TAP), University of Trier, Germany.
【Grants & Residencies】
2026–2028 Taiwan Ministry of Education Scholarship for Study Abroad
2026 International Cultural Exchange Grant, National Culture and Arts Foundation, Taiwan
2026 Literary Creation Grant, National Culture and Arts Foundation, Taiwan
2025 Publication Grant, National Culture and Arts Foundation, Taiwan
2023 Literary Creation Grant, National Culture and Arts Foundation, Taiwan
2023 Artist-in-Residence, La Porte Peinte Centre pour les Arts, France
2023 Artist-in-Residence, Jane St. Art Center, New York, USA
2021 Young Writer-in-Residence, Yang Mu Center for Literary Studies, National Dong Hwa University, Taiwan
2020 Artist-in-Residence, Taitung County Indigenous Cultural and Creative Industries Cluster, Taiwan
2018 Overseas Residency Grant for Cultural Professionals, Ministry of Culture, Taiwan｜Santa Fe Art Institute, USA
2018 Publication Grant, National Taitung Living Art Center, Taiwan
2015 Writing Kaohsiung Publication Grant, Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Kaohsiung City Government, Taiwan
2014 Project Imagination Rural Education Grant, FRANZ Collection, Taiwan
2012 Writing Kaohsiung Creative Writing Grant, Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Kaohsiung City Government, Taiwan
2012 Publication Grant, National Culture and Arts Foundation, Taiwan
【International Education Practice】
2025 Visiting & Exchange｜Summerhill School, UK
2023 Keynote Speaker｜European Democratic Education Conference, “What Democratic Schools Around the World Teach Us?”
2023 Teaching Intern｜Demokratische Schule X, Berlin, Germany
2023 Teaching Intern｜Hudson Valley Sudbury School, New York, USA
2023 Teaching Volunteer｜Democratic Education in Bulgaria
2022 Teaching Volunteer｜Escuela Democrática de Huamachuco, Peru
2018 Teaching Volunteer｜The Tutorial School, Santa Fe, USA
2008 Literature Teacher｜Holistic Education School, Taiwan
【Media Features & Interviews】
2026 “Taking a Detour on the Camino de Santiago to Return to Oneself: Poet Yu-Hsuan Wu × The Camino de Santiago,” La Vie
2025 “A Sea Hidden in the Heart, Flowing Through Culture—Yu-Hsuan Wu and Leo Tsao on Cultural Resilience and Identity in Creation,” Art Collection + Design
2025 “Everyone Has Their Own Color: Knowing You Have Choices in Life,” Bowie Tsang’s Treasure Map of Life Podcast
2025 “Poet Hung Hung Interviews Poet Yu-Hsuan Wu on Missing,” Radio Taiwan International – Poems Life Gave Me
2025 “Grief Is a Verb—Yu-Hsuan Wu on Elegiac Poetry,” Radio Taiwan International – Poems Life Gave Me
2025 “Why Creators Make Their Own Books,” South Home Salon Podcast
2025 “Saying Yes to Everything Can Also Be an Escape! A Poet’s Journey of Creative Discipline and Life Balance,” Comma School Podcast
2025 “Craving a Second Breath! The Creativity One Longs to Attain Even at the Cost of a Lifetime,” Taitung Slow Wave Radio
2025 “The Free Form of Instability: Nomadic Labor and the Practice of the Soul,” Homeward Publishing Living Room Podcast
2024 “Becoming a Real Person, Recognizing Your Own Needs, and Having the Courage to Live Earnestly,” Bowie Tsang’s Treasure Map of Life Podcast
2024 “Living a Joyful Life Across the World, Becoming a Mother Crazier Than Her Child,” Openbook Review
2024 “The Driving Force Behind Nymphia Wind! Poet Wu Yu-Hsuan Helps Her Child Break Free from Constraints and Live Freely,” Mom & Baby Magazine
2019 “Watching with Complete Openness, Owning Nothing Yet Everything,” Openbook Review
2016 “Photographs Captured Me, and Words Drew Out a Deeper Self,” Unitas Literary Magazine
2015 “In the Space of Nothingness, the Poetic Depth of Field,” Wild Lily Poetry Anthology