As for many, how things evolved for me during these extraordinary times could not be predicted. I am a translator registered at the Italian Consulate of Hong Kong and also a tutor of Italian language, working for private customers, companies and schools. I also have a passion for poetry, and I’ve been regularly taking part in poetry events and readings, co-organising a few of them.

Covid-19 impacted both my professional life and my leisure time. The requests for translations dropped, especially during the third wave of Covid-19 in Hong Kong, in July 2020. Most of the times, the translations need to be notarized at the Italian Consulate, which has been receiving visitors only by appointment. This acted, and still acts, as a deterrent, as people who did not have urgent assignment decided to postpone their translation jobs.

On the other hand, the rise of Zoom school lessons and lectures made people more confident of the ‘actual’ possibility of learning online. Therefore, I could continue my teaching of the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education)-Italian, despite the school closure. Also, I kept teaching one of my private students online, even from Italy, where I went for a short holiday. And I had new requests of Italian lessons from interested parties: people turned to new things to learn during lockdown, and this is always a positive sign.

As for my passion, which is writing, in particular poetry, there was a complete change. Poetry readings and recitals are undoubtedly best enjoyed live. Therefore, once bars closed, it was harder to have the readings via Zoom, even if the group of poets that I follow and normally join every week (Peel Street Poetry), continued – undeterred – to have weekly online poetry nights. Surprisingly though, for larger events such as themed readings with specific invited poets/speakers, people could now take part in them from every part of the world, and that increased both the audience and the pool of possible invited guest speakers. The local dimension became more international. On some occasions, international poetry readings were taking place at the same hour in different parts of the world. This was an unexpected positive sign.

Also, lockdowns and Covid-19 have been greatly inspiring writers and poets: everyone had more time for themselves, and the topic was unprecedented. Therefore, there are already a few quarantine/Covid-related poetry anthologies published or in the making, and online poetry contests responding to these specific themes. As always, inspiration comes more urgently from hardship, and it’s being definitely so for the literary production.

Nonetheless, I miss my weekly poetry gatherings and all the many activities and events related to the literary and cultural scene that have been and will be cancelled in Hong Kong and all over the world.