Metaflora combines two of Michael’s passions — poetry and ideas about ideas. As for the former, the poems in this collection were written in Hong Kong over a period of eight years and concern memory, identity, language and writing, and the transforming effects of beauty. As for the latter, Michael’s detailed schematics, which have been rendered into design by Sherene Poon, continue his interest in giving visual form to abstractions. Michael’s ideas for Metaflora were influenced by his studies in behavioural science for which he received the University of Sydney’s Dennis McIntyre Memorial Prize in 2008. Michael lives in Hong Kong with his wife, Anita, and their daughter, Amelia.