102 - Snowman held on till the very end. He's now been replaced (by Lunar New Year decorations). That first piece was an attempt at conceptualizing the graduation trip. All three pieces were written in the backyard where the snowman held on till the very end.

// They each deserve a special coat. I came to this decision while lying in bed. I faced the right which is the window and the outside and the kind of sun that warms you without making you squint. I took out the coats I thought would makea good fit. //

Atomic Heart is presented by Atom Alicia

For more about my writing and my weekly radio show, visit ⁠⁠www.atomicheart.fm

101 - We're back. The stars have lined up for my return and I find myself saying another long goodbye to this sanctuary. It was here I found my voice. It was here, in this building, where I launched this audio project almost five years ago.

// I also trust you’ll find solace and surprises between the blurred boundaries of prose and poetry, and with that, a better answer as to whether the shaped and the shapeless are one and the same when placed within a frame. Loneliness isn’t what it is when it triggers fresh dialogue. //

Atomic Heart is presented by Atom Alicia

For more about my writing and my radio work, visit ⁠www.atomicheart.fm

000 - And so I've dusted the box, opened the lid to see if the channel is still alive. I call this a trial episode, if only to claim a spot in 2024. It's here I air out my thoughts on writing and the army of anxieties that come with it.

// You almost cried that time. You held on to dear life while I revelled in the speed of the loops and the thrill of being tilted sideways above the water. If anything, I was slightly concerned about the lightness of our gondola. //

Atomic Heart is presented by Atom Alicia

For more about my writing and my radio show, visit www.atomicheart.fm

101 - Till trees had grown to veil the trigger of my disquiet

Five years of sewing me back onto the body, to the extent the clock didn’t bother me as much. And why should it / Playlist: www.atomicheart.fm

Radio shows are archived on www.mixcloud.com/atomicheart

Beds:

100 Side B - Big thanks to those who contributed to this ten years ago: Fan club members Ginice Chow and Marie Jost + Recording artists Brenda Lo, John Woo, and Eliza Chan.

Soundtrack: American Pie / 追族 / 不羈的風 / 側面 / Thousand Dreams of You / 癡心的我 / 想你 / 何去何從之阿飛正傳 / 少女心事 / 誰令妳心癡 / 只怕不再遇上 / 春夏秋冬 / 怪你過份美麗 / 我願意 + intro piano bit by Janice Crunch

100 Side A - I don't know how I got here but here I am. No poems to share today, just a stroll down the memory lane with Leslie. The stars have lined up and I have nothing else to give you. The feature was my initiative, produced in 2013, my first year working full-time at RTHK. As for Atomic Heart, it's my baby, my sanctuary, but I'll be away for a bit. The century is a good place to pull back and regroup. Please check in again come autumn, when the weather is cool again and the urge to spin becomes irresistible. Long sleeves and scarfs and all. Can't wait. I post stuff on IG every now and then @AtomAlicia

099 - Tables are laid out for the speaker who's been given pictures of another speaker he thinks he's supposed to know. I wonder how long we can play this and still find it interesting. The horse kept moving in Emma Jeremy's 'the horse could die'. I followed with a draft of my own as the excavation of poetry from fiction attempts that went nowhere continues. I mentioned last week's reading. My poems are set to appear in Where Else: an international Hong Kong poetry anthology. That's the link to pre-order. Super thankful. Other than that, the weather here remains crispy, as is my I don't know what. This is Atom Alicia C. Thank you for holding space (while I hold my breath into the next century). I don't know how you got this far, you dreamspeak sputnik.

098 - The other night I wanted to tell a story. The next morning I decided I didn't want to. Do you tell it, or do you keep it drifting on the surface of your heart ocean? I bring you 'Instructions' by the Irish poet Eavan Boland. I follow that with a quick angry draft of my own. This is Atom Alicia C. I'll be reading at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival this weekend. Thank you for holding space for my process. 

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097 - On being in more than one place at a time as well as not following the news. What if the first bird I see outside my window becomes the headline of my day? On this detour into 'not being there', I give you Mary Ruefle's 'Receiving News of the Devastation of My Mind' from her book Trances of the Blast. I also share my latest draft, two sections of a longer poem excavated from past attempts at surrealist, plotless fiction. This is Atom Alicia C. I don't know how I got here but I thank you for holding space for my process.