Tuesday, July 21, 2009

I've got two poems in "Writing Singapore", the first truly comprehensive anthology of English lit in Singapore, launched just tonight.

Unfortunately I neglected to bring a camera, and my mum's absconded with the volume in question, so I can't really advertise it photographically.

Still, it's really interesting! About a quarter devoted to pre-1965 writing, and another quarter to the 1965-1990 period (both of which contain many writers I've never heard of).

Unfortunately, it's expensive: $75 a copy. But maybe you can get a discount somehow. The two poems, by the way, are "Crystal Pear" and "Equidistance", both of which are extremely gay.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

I'm gonna be in the National Library Board's 144-hour reading marathon this weekend

Reading local English fiction on Sunday morning, 5 July, 3 to 3:30am at the Central Library foyer. Seeya there!



Insomniacs: Do you feel frustrated every time you stay awake beyond the witching hour while the rest of your friends are soundly under the covers?

Clubbers: Don’t you always feel that the night ends too early?

So, on the morning of Sunday 5 July, from 1am to 7am at the Central National Library foyer, do something different, take a break from your routine: support literary arts!

Show your support for this one-of-a-kind Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) pre-festival event. The SWF team and some of Singapore’s more well-known writers will be reading a selection of homegrown works in public. Readers include Felix Cheong (The Call from Crying House), O Thiam Chin (Free Falling Man), Aaron Lee (Five Right Angles), Ng Yi-Sheng (Last Boy), Alvin Pang (City of Rain), Heng Siok Tian (Crossing the Chopsticks) and Jeffrey Lim (The Coffin That Wouldn't Bury).

Coffee, tea and biscuits to keep us awake are welcome, but just stopping by to listen to our readings are fine too!

Organised as part of READ! Singapore 2009 by the NAC.

UPDATE: It's actually happening already! Schoolkids were reading when I went Friday afternoon.



Can't wait!