Chen retired as head of the cultural center in 1987 and dedicated himself to writing. In 1995 he was given a writer's residency at Providence University. In 2000, he won the World Poet Award from the Tokyo publishing house Chikyusha. In 2002, he won the sixth National Award for the Arts as well as the Taiwan Literature Oxford Prize from Aletheia University.
1987 年陳千武從「文英館」館長職位退休後專事寫作，1995 年受聘擔任私立靜宜大學駐校作家、2000 年獲日本東京「地球社」頒發「地球詩人獎」、2002 年同時獲頒第六屆「國家文藝獎」和私立真理大學「台灣文學家牛津獎」。