Luo Fu (poet)

He was born Mo Yun-tuan in 1928 and raised in Hengyang.[1][2] Mo's first work was published in 1943.[1] He joined the Republic of China Navy, and moved to Taiwan in 1949.[3][4] Mo received a bachelor's degree in English from Tamkang University in 1973, the same year he retired from the navy.[3][4] He married Chen Chiung-fang of Kinmen.[2]

In Taiwan, Mo published several collections of poetry, anthologies, and essays, as well as a number of translations.[1][5] His own works were translated into several languages.[4] Mo and his contemporary Yu Kwang-chung were described as the Gemini of Chinese poetry, in reference to the constellation depicting the mythological twins Castor and Pollux.[1] Luo Fu founded the Epoch Poetry Society alongside Chang Mo and Ya Xian in 1954.[6] He later left Taiwan for Canada in 1995.[7] Wang Dan published a collection of poems titled Travel in Cold Alone in 2000, and cited Mo as an influence.[8] Mo's poem "Driftwood" (2000) was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001. His final works were published in January 2018.[6]

In June 2016, Mo was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the lung.[7] He died of respiratory complications on 19 March 2018, while seeking treatment at Taipei Veterans General Hospital.[3]