In August, 1939, Chen was published for the first time. His Japanese-language poem "A Moment Late One Summer Night" was printed in Huang Te-shih's New Taiwanese People's Newspaper. That work was followed by more, including "First Quarter Moon" and "Tatu River." In just four months, he'd had eight poems published.
1939 年 8 月，陳千武在黃得時主編的「台灣新民報」發表第一首日文詩〈夏深夜的一刻〉，隨後〈上弦月〉、〈大肚溪〉等詩作陸續刊出，短短 4 個月時間，發表了 8 首新詩。