Veteran Taiwanese poet Lee Kuei-shien dies at 87

Taipei, Jan. 16 (CNA) Minister of Culture Li Yuan (李遠) on Thursday mourned the death of veteran poet Lee Kuei-shien (李魁賢), who died aged 87 on Wednesday in Taipei.

Li Yuan expressed sadness at Lee's passing, saying that President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) would confer a posthumous medal on the poet in honor of his contribution to the development of Taiwanese literature.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the minister called Lee a prolific poet who won multiple awards and whose translated works have been published in many different countries, including Japan, South Korea, Canada, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Romania, former Yugoslavia, India, Greece, the United States, Spain and Mongolia.

He was also put forward for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001, 2003 and 2006.

The minister described Lee as a fun person, who always had anecdotes to tell when they spent time together, adding that the poet also stood out as an opinion leader in the world of literature in light of his unique observations about the people and land of Taiwan, elements that were reflected in his poems.

"Lee was a trailblazer and promoter of Taiwan's literature," he said.

According to online information provided by National Award for Arts, Lee's poems are natural and frank, vividly reflecting his observations of daily-life.

Lee successfully blended that conceptual approach into his writing, earning the moniker "industrial poet," the website said, adding that in later life he increasingly explored everyday life by digging into its multifaceted truths in a more critical and satirical way.

Born in Taipei in 1937, Lee strongly believed that poets should always stand up and be counted because "poets are born to speak for the opposition."

In 1953, he published his first poem in "Wild Wind (野風)" magazine as a 16-year-old junior high school student.

In 1956, he joined a poetry club led by famous poet Ji Xian (紀弦) and published his first poetry collection in 1963 before focusing on writing poems as his life-long passion.

In more than 60 years as a poet, Lee wrote over 1,000 poems and translated more than 5,000 foreign poems into Chinese. As a result, he won the National Award for Arts and Wu Zhuo-liu New Poetry Award, among others at home, and multiple honors from organizations such as the International Academy of Poets in the United Kingdom and Michael Madhusudan Academy in India.

Keen to promote international poetry exchanges, Lee also curated poetry festivals in Taiwan and organized delegations to attend activities abroad, greatly increasing the visibility of Taiwanese poets on the world stage, the culture ministry said.