Moving Words launch today, 4-6pm @ Esplanade XChange!

Have you heard about Moving Words, the new initiative by The Literary Centre to promote Singapore poetry? It'll be launched today at 4pm, Esplanade XChange, right next to Dunkin Donuts.



There'll be poetry readings from Singapore’s established poets whose works are gonna be featured on the SMRT train network. Poets such as Gilbert Koh (aka blogger Mr Wang Says So), Chia Hwee Pheng, Liang Yue, Rasiah Halil, Grace Chua and KTM Iqbal will read their featured poems.

The Proletariat Poetry Factory will provide poetry-on-demand for passing commuters using typewriters as a medium with accompanying local 3-piece Jazz band – The Reflections, entertaining the crowd.

Plus, we'll have the Moving Words Poetry Competition will also officially open for entries. The first 20 people to submit their poems for the Competition at the launch will receive a Books Actually voucher worth $20.

Here's some info on the competition:

We invite all aspiring poets, young and old, to participate in an open Moving Words Poetry Competition. This is a great opportunity for budding poets to showcase their poems, in any of the four languages, on a national platform – the SMRT train network!
Call for submissions for the Moving Words Poetry Competition. This competition is open to all Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents. The competition period is 21st May to 15th July 2011. The 12 best entries will be shortlisted by a panel of judges for display on the SMRT train network from August to October 2011. The public will then get to vote for their favourite entry and the public’s votes will decide the winning poem. The winner receives a brand new iPad2 and there will be two consolation prizes of Books Actually vouchers worth $200. Voters also stand a chance to win attractive prizes like the iPod Touch and Books Actually vouchers. Details about the competition can be found at www.movingwords.sg .
The 12 best entries will also be published in the Moving Words Anthology together with the works of established Singaporean poets, and launched in October at the Singapore Writers Festival 2011, Singapore’s largest literary event.


The website is www.movingwords.sg - it'll be live later today!

I'm acting in a show in the Singapore Arts Festival!

Technically, it's part of Flipside. It's a 10-minute play called "The Tent" by Wee Lilin, to be performed as part of Tisch Asia's "Love and Other Disasters" on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 May, 7:15pm and 8:15pm at the Esplanade Concourse.

Come come! It's free entry. Facebook page here:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=161177063944462

The Esplanade and The Department of Dramatic Writing at Tisch Asia team up to bring you two nights of short plays about love, loss, and zombies.

Performing on the Concourse Stage, Tisch Asia writers will be showcasing some of the most popular plays from the past two years.

This is a free event, and is part of the Flip Side, the Esplanade's companion event to the Singapore Arts Festival.

Featuring plays by Josh Billig, Adeline Food, Lou-Lou Igbokwe, John Marsh, and Wee Li Lin.

Direction by Maxim Dashkin, Drayton Hiers, Dean Lundquist, and Wee Li Lin.

And starring Michael Chua, Tim Garner, Sophie Khoo, Bill Kovacsik, Jacqueline Landsman, Ng Yi-Sheng, Glory Ngim, Adeline Pang, and Erik Wayne.

With Philip Leung as the Emcee.

TWO SHOWS NIGHTLY: May 18 & 19 at 7:15 and 8:15. Each performance is the same set.

SPORE Art Salon, Tue 26 April

I was involved in curating this one. Come down and watch young slam poet Deborah Emmanuel - she's really cool.



SPORE Art Salon
Tue 26 April, 7-11pm
ECHO Loft, 268A South Bridge Road

Here's the blurb:

This month we will be featuring a live art installation/creation, featuring the visual artistry of ART SASPUTROWARDOYO and DAWN ANG. They will be combining their talents for improvisational line drawing, to absorb the atmosphere and produce a fantastic and imaginative landscape in real-time. This must be seen to be believed!! As always, we will be conducting live model drawing sessions throughout the evening, so bring your pencils, charcoal, pads and paper. Let our engaging and eclectic models inspire your creativity. All guests are allowed and encouraged to participate in the drawing sessions.

FEATURED PERFORMING ARTISTS:

ALICE RENOU BOUILET: Miss Alice hails from Paris, France, where she has enjoyed an exciting performance career. Having performed as a dancer at the world famous Lido theater, and distinguishing herself as an accomplished modern dancer, harpist, choral singer and actress, she now joins the SPORE Art Salon to weave her wonderful blend of cabaret, jazz, and sophistication. A truly tempting treat!

DEBORAH EMMANUEL: Deborah Emmanuel is a full-time learner, part-time teacher and performer who has newly discovered her love for telling stories. Most of the stories she has told have used theatre and drama as their medium. Within the last year, she has started using performance poetry as the way to tell hers and other people's. Most of her poetry is based on snatches of time or striking life experiences which explore raw emotion. Deborah believes that it is this essence of each story which brings people together, since every person has been sad, happy, angry or afraid- even if they pretend not to be. She hopes that you hear her stories with an open heart and mind, and that they make you feel.

EDMUND LEE: Sir Edmund Lee is a heartfelt and passionate singer/songwriter. Deeply inspired by the work and stylings of Jason Mraz and John Mayer, Edmund continues to create welcoming and warm pictures and stories with his music. Come let him speak to your soul.

You don't want to miss a single minute of this month's event. The cost of the evening is $20 CASH ONLY. Proceeds go to fund the ECHO music school.

By the way, there's an interview with me on Writing the City.

I share my top five writing tips!

http://civiclife.sg/writingthecity/index.php/my-five-ng-yi-sheng

I've a bunch of gigs coming up!

1) I've got a poem in Man/Born/Free: Writings on the Human Spirit, edited by Gwee Li Sui. It's being marketed in South Africa right now as part of Spotlight Singapore. I hear it's doing rather well.

I'll be speaking on a panel at the Singapore launch! Here's the info:

Launch of "Man/Born/Free"
Friday 26 March, 11am-12pm
Living Room, Level Two, Arts House

And here's a blurb from this site:

"This literary anthology – centred on the travails of the human spirit – is like none other published in Singapore. It testifies to the social reflections of generations of Singaporean writers and their inquiries into issues of freedom, equality, humanity, and hope. The selection brings together works originally written in English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil across almost six decades of Singaporean life. They are arranged here in a compelling way that argues for the inevitable interconnections of these concerns. Man/Born/Free is an exciting initiative to commemorate the relationship between Singapore and South Africa as extended through the 2011 event, Spotlight Singapore in Cape Town.

2) I'm performing stuff at the SPORE Art Salon. It's an event cooked up by Ryan Beck, a dancer at Resorts World's Voyage de La Vie circus show (no, I'm not kidding). He and his fellow artist/performers have been longing for a way to connect with the greater Singapore arts scene, which is really hard for them since they're usually working Wednesday to Sunday.

They've set up this monthly event where they can gather and showcase works by both Singaporean and expat artists - plus, there's live models present for sketching, so you can practise your drawing skills. Unfortunately, it costs $20, but the proceeds go to charity, and there'll be a lovely tapas spread to boot.

This month's will feature myself, musicians/comedians Jacqueline and Bill Landsman, pianist/songwriter/performer Johnny Kim and accordionist/singer/songwriter Faizal Bohtiar.

SPORE Art Salon
Tuesday 29 March, 7-11pm
ECHO Loft, Chinatown
Corner of Smith Street and South Bridge Rd, Second Floor
$20 for entry (including performance, sketching and food)

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=187152654659220

3) I was involved in a collaboration between artists and writers, organised by the literary journal CERIPH and the Substation. Not a lot of publicity materials out yet, but I'm just gonna announce the launch of the art exhibition:

Synaesthesia Launch

8-17 April (launch 7pm on Friday 8 April)

Substation Gallery, 45 Armenian St

Thankyee, y'all!

Singapore Biennale 2011 Young Art Writers Programme

I'm leading creative workshops at the Singapore Biennale on Wednesday and Thursday!



If you're interested in finding out more, e-mail education@singaporebiennale.org.

I'm writing for the Canvas!

Just wanted to let you know that I'm now a member of the Council, i.e. the unpaid staff who write for the National Art Gallery blog, the Canvas.

Why? Because I frickin' love art and writing about it is a good way to waste my time and hasten my death. E.g. I recently wasted time blogging about photographer Alecia Neo, plus I vomited up a piece called 10 Gloriously Cheesy Merlion Artworks, in honour of the Singapore Biennale 2011.

Speaking of which, I'll be attending the opening of that event in eight hours. No costume this time, sadly.

ROJAK 17, this Fri 18 Feb, @ 5 Magazine Rd, Central Mall

Dearest friends,

Come to ROJAK 17! (I'll be hosting.)


Welcome to our first ROJAK of 2011, this Friday,18th February, co-curated by BBH and FARM. It promises to be alot of FUN, with live performances scattered throughout the night.

We are hosted by BBH at their lovely courtyard space at 5 Magazine Road (Central Mall). Syndicate will start spinning at 7pm, and presentations starts at 8pm. Come early to support and see!

Our presenters for the evening, are, in no particular order:

1. Syndicate, Visual & Music
2. Colin Seah, Architecture & Design
3. Yuki Mitsuyasu, Jewellery Design
4. Quek Kiat Sing, Chinese Art
5. Hunn Wai, Product Design
6. Douglas Hamilton & Adrian Chan, Advertising
7. Abednego Trianto, Photography
8. Andree Weschler, Fine Arts & Performance
9. Felix Ng, Design
10. The Observatory, Music

Remember to bring drinks and beer to share for the beloved ROJAK dinghy. Bring your friends and family too! It's all in the spirit of ROJAK sharing. :)

P.S. This salivatingly-fabulous poster is designed by BBH (lotsa thanks!!)

PANEL DISCUSSION: From Ideas to Theatre Idols

(I'm moderating this!)

Meet three past winners of Theatre Idols, an annual event where staged readings of original new plays are held and the winner decided by public voting for a full staging of his/her play. These upcoming talented playwrights - Jacke Chye, Edgar Liao and Yak Aik-Wee - will chat about their experiences writing plays and taking part in Theatre Idols and also discuss real challenges facing new playwrights in the Singapore theatre scene.

Organised by the National Arts Council's Mentor Access Project and supported by The Arts House.

Free Admission.

Friday 11 February 2011,
7pm - 8.30pm ,
Arts House Play Den

Event details from: http://www.theartshouse.com.sg/event_details_2011.php?id=43. For enquiries, contact The Arts House at: 6332 6900.

Friday reading, Gay's the Word, London, 7pm

As you know, I'm in London promoting GASPP: a Gay Anthology of Singapore Poetry and Prose (in addition to some of my own work.) As part of the tour, I'm doing a reading at the UK's only GLBT interest bookstore.

If you're in London, please come! There'll be wine and Chinese New Year goodies.

Friday, 4 February, 7-8pm
Gay's the Word
66 Marchmont Street
(Russell Square Tube), London WC1N 1AB
020 7278 7654

Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=172960122748942

By the way, the event's been set up by Clara Yee, part of the amazing informal cultural promotion group Creative SINergy. Thanks so much, guys.

I'm going to London!

And I'll be appearing at these two events. Possibly a third, if we get our act together. :)

Count on Queers, Singapore!
Friday, 28 January 2011, 5:30-7pm
Room 104 (Senate House, First Floor), Institute of Commonwealth Studies
School of Advanced Study, University of London

Part of a public seminar series on Singapore Politics at the University of London. Queer Singaporean writers Ng How Wee and myself will be chairing the first part of the event, followed by a talk by Dr Simon Obendorf (University of Lincoln) on queer politics in Singapore.

writLOUD
Monday, 7 February 2011, 6.30pm onwards.
RADA Foyer Bar, Malet Street, London WC1E 7JN.

Birkbeck's monthly readings event, organised in partnership with Oxfam. I'll be one of the featured readers.

Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=174827652553310
writLOUD official page: http://www.writershub.co.uk/writloud.php

Crime Night, 29 January, 8pm at Prologue, Orchard ION

Haven't mentioned this before, but I'm in Crime Scene: Singapore, and anthology of crime writing set in this country, edited by Richard Lord and published by Monsoon Books. Buy it! I get royalties. :D



There's an event happening later this month, but unfortunately I'll be in London at the time (never mind what the poster says). Go support these writers anyways.

N.B. It's on Amazon too!

Call for submissions for ASYMPTOTE: a new international journal of literary translation

My friend's setting up a new journal of translation called Asymptote! (Yeah, I was originally drama editor, but I couldn't commit the time. It's still an important effort.)

It's founded by multi-genre polyglot Singaporean writer Lee Yew Leong, but we've got other editors based in Germany and the USA. Our first issue is coming out in Jan 2011.

If you're a writer in a non-English language or a translator of non-English literature into English, we'd love to see your work. The deadline for submissions is 20 December 2010 and the guidelines are here.

Ooh, and get a load of our landing page, here: http://asymptotejournal.com

Some very cool international writers have already agreed to be featured in the Jan 2011 edition. We'll be featuring:

- a dispatch from Afghanistan about the plight of women in the context of the ongoing war
- an essay from Japan comparing "Literature and Mathematics" (which we thought apropos for the launch issue of a magazine called Asymptote)
- a group of poems by Melih Cevdet Anday, writing in the manner of a famous 17th century folk poet, translated from the Turkish by Sidney Wade and Efe Murad
- an interview with the award-winning lyricist who not only brought the 2010 World Cup song into Mandarin but has done some amazing (literary) things across Mandarin and Cantonese as well.
-excerpts from Singaporean playwright Alfian Sa'at's "Nadirah", last year's prizewinning script at the Life! Theatre Awards.

Hope to read your stuff on the site soon!

Fries Parade

About a month ago I participated in the following outdoor improv event with Mission: Singapore.



I'm wearing a really ugly T-shirt because the original idea was that we were supposed to exchange T-shirts in a crowded area. (Shrug)

Oh yeah, and I'm thirty years old today! Woohoo!

Bookstore Launch of GASPP, Sunday 21 Nov, 3pm

Since a lot of folks couldn't make our last launch at Play, we're having an additional launch in an actual bookstore space.

Sun 21 Nov
BOOKSTORE LAUNCH OF GASPP
3-4pm, Birds & Co, Orchard Cineleisure #03-05A
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=159379880764684

If you haven't heard of Birds & Co, it's 'cos it's BooksActually's new outlet in the shopping centre district of Singapore. Ours will be the first book event to be held there. We're expecting to feature readings with Ovidia Yu, X'Ho, Lee Yew Leong and Cyril Wong.

Just reminding everyone: the launch for GASPP is tomorrow!!!

Fri 29 Oct, 8-9:30pm, Play Club, Singapore
OFFICIAL LAUNCH
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158729217489754
With readings by Alfian Sa'at, Chrystal Wang, Irfan Kasban, Michael Corbidge, Jason Wee and Tania de Rozario.

Updates at http://gaspp.wordpress.com. This is what our cover looks like:



Works by Johann S. Lee, X’Ho, Ovidia Yu, Alfian Sa’at, Cyril Wong, Jason Wee, Lee Yew Leong, Ng How Wee (黄浩威), Adrianna Tan, Koh Jee Leong, Wang Zi Si (王子思), Jasmine Seah, O Thiam Chin, Zhuang Yusa, Ng Yi-Sheng, Michael Lee, Selwyn Lee, Irfan Kasban, Andrew Cheah, Michael Corbidge, Desmond Kon, Johann Loh, Chrystal Wang, Ash Lim, Geraldine Toh, Jabir Yusoff, Mint Hong (思敏), Grace Chua, Nicholas Deroose, Tata So, Dominic Chua, Tania de Rozario and a little someone called Anonymous.

> theatre
Cinta Julia
The Esplanade
Esplanade Theatre Studio
Sunday

This is the first time veteran Malaysian actress Fauziah Nawi is performing in Singapore, but let’s hope it won’t be the last. Her performance in Cinta Julia (Julia’s Love) is a tour de force, showcasing her extraordinary artistic command of voice and movement.

The play premiered just last year in Kuala Lumpur, but it represents an older tradition of sandiwara theatre, most popular around the seventies and eighties.

Written as a dramatic monologue, it tells the tale of a young woman named Julia and her widowed mother. Theirs is a classic story of women’s suffering at the hands of the men they love, spread over two generations.

Playwright-director Iryanda Mulia Ramli (Mul) has created a text replete with elaborate, poetic language. He alludes endlessly to “the well of love”, even comparing Julia’s humble home to a palace.

Often, the play feels dated. Several scenes centre around an antique gramophone and memories of joget cabaret halls. Also, there is no acknowledgment that late 20^th century women’s lives involve fulfilling careers or friendships. The feminine world remains bounded by family, romance and exploitation.

Mul also avoids straightforward storytelling techniques, so that we’re never sure of certain details, including the accident that killed Julia’s father. Episodes melt into one another with utter fluidity, making it sometimes tricky to follow the course of events.

Luckily, Fauziah’s presence is mesmerising. Even seated and motionless, as she is at the beginning of the play, she grips our attention as she makes the air ring with the venomous curses of a woman scorned.

In later scenes, her skills as a physical actor rise to the fore. She re-enacts abuse by slapping her own face and recoiling violently in shock. She dances her sorrows away as Julia’s mother, her body encapsulating both anguish and joy, both the stiffness of aged bones and the memory of carefree youth.

The conclusion is rather cliché. Heartbroken over the failure of her marriage, Julia hears a divine voice and realises that she has sinned by turning away from the love of God. Fortunately, this gives us a chance to hear Fauziah’s lovely singing voice, as she closes the play with a song of repentance.

Cinta Julia is ultimately valuable for its very datedness. It reminds us of the strength and beauty that sandiwara can possess, especially when performed by a maestra. In this age of contemporary theatre, it’s good to return to the classics.

This review appeared in an edited form in Straits Times Life! on Tuesday 26 October 2010. As a poet, I'm distressed by the way the text flowed (or failed to flow) after editing. That's why I'm reposting this. Ideally, I need to figure out a writing style that'll come out more gracefully.

Hantuween @ Post-Museum, Sat 8pm onwards

I've just been invited to read at this year's Hantuween, a fundraising event to feed the hungry by Food #03 and Post-Museum!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=109186545811556


Post-Museum invites you to its very first Hantuween Party!

Join us for a Halloween celebration with a distinctly Southeast Asian flavour.

Come frolic under our Banyan tree with the Little Nonya’s rotting corpse, Ah Meng’s spirit, a semi-retired bomoh and more.

Take this chance to learn more about the myths and historical figures from our region. Come dressed as your favourite character and have a freaky good time with cabaret-style performances and Southeast Asian beats going on all night!

For More info:
email: admin@post-museum.org
tel: 6396 7980

* Entrance $25 with 2 drinks

* We are having an open call for our cabaret-style open mic session, so please get in touch with your performance ideas.

Writing the City - Launch event on Tues 2 November at Arts House



Like it says! Don't forget to RSVP!

GASPP at Seksualiti Merdeka

This is a basically a cut-and-paste of the blog entry I put up at my GASPP site. But I do want to reiterate what I said about KL (yeah, I'm self-quoting):

"Now I understand why Alfian and The Necessary Stage people love to go up there so much: because there's this young, idealistic community of activists and intellectuals and artists who can't afford to take for granted the values that Singaporeans are utterly blasé about: secularism, racial harmony, non-corruption, and the right to even heterosexual romance."

Unfortunately, my own photos of the Seksualiti Merdeka festival are lousy. So I'll have to rely on everyone else's photos of our event.

For instance, here's us at the Queer As Books event at 2pm, Sunday 17 Oct in the Annexe!

Remember, this was a joint launch (for us, technically a pre-launch event) of three books. So from left to right: Matahari Books publisher Amir Muhammad, Diana Dirani and Azwan Ismail, co-editors of the Malaysian Malay language queer anthology Orang Macam Kita; Alfian Sa'at, playwright of the Asian Boys Trilogy; and myself, Ng Yi-Sheng, co-editor of GASPP.

(The photographer is our own publisher, Fong Hoe Fang of The Literary Centre/Ethos Books.)

And here's GASPP itself:

We had a promotion going on: for every copy of GASPP or Collected Plays Two: The Asian Boys Trilogy we sold, you got a free copy of Charlene Rajendran's Taxi Tales. (No, she's not gay herself. But she's supportive!)

The launch was actually a private event, hence the low levels of publicity. Folks were afraid of attracting undue attention to Orang Macam Kita, a real danger since the queer Malaysian English language anthology, Body2Body, recently got pulled from the shelves after a complaint.

But still, we had readings from the contirbutors, such as Nizam Zakaria (wish my Bahasa Melayu was good enough to follow what was going on) before I goaded Alfian to go up and read something from our own book: Irfan Kasban's short prose work Dua Lelaki.

Yes, that is an expression of consternation on Alf's face. Dua Lelaki is kinda provocative.

Here's a shot of me reading from my short story Lee Low Tar, gleaned from the Facebook album of Dib Jual Kata. Yeah, we sure established ourselves as unsavoury types.

Adrianna Tan was originally supposed to come too, but she had to cancel suddenly for health reasons, so the event really ended up being quite a sausagefest. Hopefully this won't be the case for our Singapore launch!

This last shot's by Malaysian artist Jun Kit. At one point during the Q&A, I got asked whether we'd be able to sell the book openly on the shelves in Singapore. And I had to admit, well, actually, things are much easier for us in Singapore than in KL. Yes, we complain about censorship, but that hardly ever happens to books (only when important government figures get directly insulted) and what happens to plays is R-ratings and funding cuts and text changes: the whole production does not get shut down.

When we compare ourselves to London or New York or Stockholm, our freedom of speech record is lousy. But we're in a better situation than Malaysia, and we should remember that.

Plus, we should buy their books. Orang Macam Kita can be bought from Matahari Books by mail or from Amazon. Alfian's book should be available in all major Singapore bookstores, and if it's not, demand it.

And as for us, we're coming soon... :)

It's in print...

Copies were just delivered to the publishers at 5:30pm today. We caught it at Yeng Pway Ngon's book launch at the Arts House at 7pm.



Whoa. None of us can believe it's here. But it is! And it looks good.

Selling for $25 - less if you happen to be at a special event.

Now I'm catching a bus to Kuala Lumpur for the Seksualiti Merdeka festival!

Launch of Poems [1] Rebellion by Yeng Pway Ngon

I'm promoting this 'cos it's a project by The Literary Centre, the same folks who're publishing GASPP: a Gay Anthology of Singapore Poetry and Prose. The launch is this Friday night at the Arts House Play Den - come if you can!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=148281591880449

The Literary Centre (Singapore) cordially invites you to the launch of Yeng Pway Ngon's Poems 1 [Rebellion] at The Arts House.

Poems 1 [Rebellion] is a translated selection of Yeng Pway Ngon's works published between 1967 and 1970, a period in which his poetry openly confronts issues of urban modernity, consumerism and apathy, social decadence and cultural decay, moral hypocrisy, and the corruption of power. This is the first of a series of chapbooks in translation which will explore the range of Yeng's poetry from the 1960s to the present.

Born in 1947, Yeng Pway Ngon is a poet, novelist, playwright and critic who has published 24 volumes of poetry, essays, fiction, plays and literary criticism in the Chinese language. He has previously been translated into English, Malay and Dutch. He is also the recipient of Singapore's 2003 Cultural Medallion for Literature.

Date: Friday, 15 October 2010
Time: 7pm - 9pm
Venue: Play Den, The Arts House

Featuring: Mr Yeng, and translators Alvin Pang & Goh Beng Choo

GASPP: A Gay Anthology of Singapore Poetry and Prose

You may remember me calling for entries for this collection a while back. It's an anthology of writing by queer Singapore citizens and residents that I've edited together with Dominic Chua, Jasmine Seah and Irene Oh. And it's coming out this month!!!

Oh, and of course I've set up a blog about it: http://gaspp.wordpress.com. This is what our cover looks like:



It's a photo by Lin Weidong, augmented by designer David Lee.

I should list our contributors, too: Johann S. Lee, X’Ho, Ovidia Yu, Alfian Sa’at, Cyril Wong, Jason Wee, Lee Yew Leong, Ng How Wee (黄浩威), Adrianna Tan, Koh Jee Leong, Wang Zi Si (王子思), Jasmine Seah, O Thiam Chin, Zhuang Yusa, Ng Yi-Sheng, Michael Lee, Selwyn Lee, Irfan Kasban, Andrew Cheah, Michael Corbidge, Desmond Kon, Johann Loh, Chrystal Wang, Ash Lim, Geraldine Toh, Jabir Yusoff, Mint Hong (思敏), Grace Chua, Nicholas Deroose, Tata So, Dominic Chua, Tania de Rozario and a little someone called Anonymous.

Our launch dates are:

Sun 17 Oct, 2pm, Annexe Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
QUEER AS BOOKS (part of the Seksualiti Merdeka Festival)
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=135470589834336
This is a pre-launch release. Two other books will be launched at the event: the Malay-language Malaysian queer anthology Orang Macam Kita and Singaporean playwright Alfian Sa'at's Collected Plays Two. There'll also be a panel discussion at 3pm on Queer Writing in Singapore and Malaysia.

Fri 29 Oct, 8-9:30pm, Play Club, Singapore
OFFICIAL LAUNCH
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158729217489754
This is the big one! We're planning a festive evening of readings (plus a Q&A) at one of most popular gay clubs in the city, showcasing the voices of queer Singapore writers from different generations. Free entry, of course. :)

More details as the dates draw closer!

The Ultimate National Day Wish List

I was interviewed by Sinema for this. See their blog at http://sindie.blogspot.com.



Maybe I should explain that I was still wearing my costume for ContraDiction when they did the interview at 0:08. That's why I'm dressed so weird.

ROJAK 16: next Saturday night!

I'm hosting again!


It'll be on:

28th August 2010,
Saturday, 7pm
Blk 263,
Waterloo Centre,
Singapore 180263
1st storey void deck

I've been extremely behind with my updates.

But here we go:

1. I'm going to be a torchbearer for the Youth Olympic Games on Friday 13 August, roughly around 10:35am on Kallang Road, slot number 6081. You can stand by the road and support me if you like!


Announcements

Yes, I know it's ridiculous and that the YOG itself is really pretty fucked up, and the uniforms are fugly: baggy grey and orange, with clear stipulations that we are not to alter them or wear them in a non-uniform manner or promote any socio-political-cultural agenda with them while we're running.

But NAC Literary Dept asked me to be a teensy part of Singapore history, and since they've generally been pretty cool people, how could I ever say no?

2. My interview with Boo Junfeng about his upcoming film "Sandcastle" is up on Civic Life.



It's showing in Cinema Europa, VivoCity from 26 August onwards. Go early so you can convince the cinema to keep it in the theatres longer.



3. I never mentioned the fact that I've got a story up there myself: Last Kampong Boy, a brief summary of my father's memories of growing up in Tiong Bahru.



I think I'll talk about ContraDiction in a separate post.

I've done an interview with Royston Tan.

It's about his upcoming movie, OLD PLACES/老地方, co-directed with Eva Tang and Vitric Thng. It's up on the Civic Life Tiong Bahru blog, commissioned by the British Council.

The movie itself is being shown on TV: it'll be on Sunday 8 August at 8pm on Okto (wah, so many eights, must be auspicious). It's a series of personal stories told by ordinary Singaporeans about the vanishing places in Singapore.

Trailers here:







Loads of photos on the website. Tune in!

The IndigNation calendar is up!

Click here.

Including the literary reading ContraDiction SIX!

Sunday 15 Aug
7-9pm@72-13

Our annual queer literary reading is back! Curated and hosted by Ng Yi-Sheng, this year’s edition will feature writers such as poet Joel Tan, fiction writer O Thiam Chin, songwriter Amanda Tee and (hetero) guest stars Bani Haykal and Michaela Therese.

Five Foot Broadway Mini Musicals
Presented by MUSICAL THEATRE LIMITED

SIX new short musicals are performed In-Concert style, showcasing local musicals writers:

YS: I won't be around for this, so why don't you turn up and let me know how it goes?

1. MEE POK MAN (Ng YiSheng and Ting Si Hao)

2. CUPID'S BET (Darius Lim and Ken Lyen)
3. THE OTHER WOMAN (Stella Kon and Desmond Moey)
4. IL CASINO (Richard Lord and Ken Lyen)
5. ESTHER (Joshua Greene)
6. BIRTHDAY BLUES (Mohamad Shaifulbahri and Ken Lyen)

FREE Admission - Register through email MTLminimusicals.register@yahoo.com.sg .
The HALL, The Arts House
2010 July 9 FRI 7:30pm (SOLD OUT)
2010 Jul 10 SAT 2:30pm (SOLD OUT)

2010 Jul 10 SAT 7:30pm (NEW SHOW!)
Call Desmond Moey (+65) 92721648

I'll be in Europe from 4 to 22 July.

I have a press pass for the Over het IJ and Julidans Festivals in Amsterdam, then the Theater der Welt festival in Ruhr, which is part of its European Cultural Capital 2010 celebrations.


View Around the World in 80 Books in a larger map

Yeah, I'm surprised they gave it to me too. After that I'll be in Zurich for a week, working on a book.

A review of "Over There: Poems from Singapore and Australia" in Cordite Magazine

It's a short review. The weird thing is, there are only three poets mentioned in the whole thing, and I'm the only Singaporean.

Click here: http://www.cordite.org.au/?p=9719

UPDATE: How blind of me. There are four poets, and Heng Siok Tian's the other Singaporean. D'oh!

ROJAK 15! I'm co-hosting


Who: FARM
Where: Emily hill, 11 Upper WIlkie Road, Singapore 228120
When: 12.06.2010 Sat 08.00pm till 12.06.2010

It has been a long while since the last one. We have been busy the whole of last year and also spent some time moving to our new space. But now we are back with ROJAK 15!

It's happening on 12th June, Saturday, 8pm till late at a lovely shed on Emily Hill. Thank you to the good people at Emily Hill and sixdegrees for their cosy space for the night. You can see the shed in the poster, taken by Jeremy San! Thanks Jeremy :)

For directions and a better view of the space, you can download the poster here.

Kelvin Ang and Ng Yi-Sheng will join us once again as the hosts for the night.

Our presenters for the evening, in no particular order:
1. MINDWASABI, Design Strategy
2. Rage Goh, Poetry
3. Nataliette, Illustration
4. Natalie Lee, Graphic Design
5. Liao Jiekai, Film
6. Jeff Chouw, Photography
7. Brian Chia, Graphic Design
8. Dan Prichard, Film
9. Kenneth Chong, Architecture and Arts
10. Chan Mei Hsien, Fine Arts

(For the actual links, go to the original invite here.)

Bring drinks and beer to share for the beloved ROJAK dinghy!
It's all in the spirit of ROJAK sharing :)

See you there!

I wrote a poem about football.

It was printed in today's Today newspaper. The graphic is really super-cheesy (they printed our poems in curly fonts on scrolls for crying out loud, way to alienate the non-poetry reading crowd). But there's some decent stuff.

Commissioned by Mayo Martin, but I take credit for suggesting Pooja Nansi and Leong Liew Geok. Click here.

> theatre
Y O’Clock
faifai
Drama Centre Black Box
Thursday, May 20, 2010


The sheer inventiveness of Y O’Clock is enough to blow you away. The show presents audiences with a bewildering succession of ingenious handmade props: a tightrope, a smoke cannon in a cardboard box, a cloud made of edible marshmallow.

Japanese theatre group faifai thrusts us back into the imaginative world of childhood, engulfing us in an environment of constant play. Characters are portrayed as dolls, with actors manipulating their limbs and voices, surrounded by sets and costumes as colourful as a box of crayons.

Audiences, too, are invited to play. Before we even enter the theatre, we are given paper planes and are invited to draw on disposable plates, which will reappear later in the show, transformed into flowers.

Surprisingly, the plot isn’t truly gripping. The tale focuses on Potato, a part-time teacher at a daycare centre, played by Koji Yamazaki. He bonds with one of his charges, an eight year-old boy named Youji, and is highly disturbed when the child suddenly leaves the school to return to his orphanage.

The story is drawn from the real-life experiences of director Chiharu Shinoda, who formerly worked in a daycare centre. Its very ordinariness is to its credit: it’s a thoroughly believable story of adult alienation, taking place in a sea of childlike fantasy.

And of course, we love the fantasy. My favourite scenes are the dream sequences: actors slip into costumes to play giant mermaids, Egyptian mummies and King Kong gorrillas, terrorizing the world of the dolls.

But real life also becomes marvelously mutated in this show. At Potato’s class reunion, performer/designer Shiro Amano appears in business attire, controlling two life-size marionettes, forming a trio of identical yuppie salarymen. On another occasion, Yamazaki strips his clothes to reveal a crowd of felt tip faces drawn across his body: an array of characters to depict the chaos of a party.

And even the simplest of concepts is portrayed in the zaniest way possible. To show she needs to pee, actress Mai Nakabayashi balances a beaker on her head, while another actor fills it with a watering can.

Yet this show isn’t all bells and whistles. As a finale, the cast clears the stage in seconds, leaving a blank space where Potato encounters an adult Youji, and, with difficulty, he accepts the inevitable changes that life entails.

The two then begin a gymnastic dance, half-desperate and half-joyous. This becomes the thesis of the play: that as adults, we must not live in regret, but must celebrate the sensation of the present. This, regardless of the fact that the glorious playthings of childhood have vanished, never to return.

Re: the Singapore Arts Festival Blog

I've just blasted the National Arts Council Festivals Department on my blog for refusing to give the Flying Inkpot the tickets they asked for. Less than a week before the Festival began, they only agreed to supply 8 out of 13 tickets requested. No other theatre company has ever treated us so shabbily.

Read about it here.

But here's a little something extra: I'm feeling a little guilty about the whole situation. Why?

Reason #1. My own ticket allocation is not affected. This is because I pulled out of doing my reviews for the Flying Inkpot at the last minute. Why? Because the plays I'd decided to cover were "Cargo" and "Football, Football", and the Straits Times had later approached me to review these same plays.

I felt bad about cancelling these ticket requests with Inkpot and the Festivals Department, but they were pretty cool with it in the end. We've done this kind of thing before. In the end, it's the same person reviewing, but for a different company. Kenneth and Matthew volunteered to take over my review commitments.

Reason #2. I was told when I set up the Festival blog that me and my team of four or five could have "some" tickets. I went and assembled a team of about 20, so we could cover all the shows, and receive comps to them, too. And all our comp requests were approved.

The thing is, we're not going to be doing in-depth, incisive, Inkpot-standard reviews of the shows we're watching. That wasn't part of the agreement. The idea was just to write "something".

Some of us, like Rui An, will probably write really analytical reviews, but most of us will post a more personal response. And that's if we're lucky - so far, most of the rest of the team hasn't blogged much at all.

So I'm feeling a wee bit responsible for this mess. The least I can do is decry it and confess it.

Yurg. It also feels silly to go on about this when the Yong Vui Kong verdict is coming up on Friday. Also PinkDot on Saturday. I'll be there.

Singapore Arts Festival Blog!

I'm doing the official independent blog for the Singapore Arts Festival 2010! Check it out here:

http://singartsfestival.wordpress.com/

The official independent bit means that the department at NAC asked me to do it and is giving us complimentary tickets, but will have no control over what we say over there, though Kee Hong says he'll drop me a mail if there's a factual inaccuracy.

So far he hasn't contradicted my postulations that the guys who cut back on W!ld Rice and TheatreWorks funding are idiots, and that the marketing materials are weird and scary, so you know, I'm assuming that's factually true. :)

Other people who've agreed to blog include fellow Inkpot reviewer Ho Rui An, classical music reviewer Dr Chang Tou Liang, playwrights Irfan Kasban, Bryan Tan and Faith Ng, choreographer Kiran Kumar, poet Pooja Nansi, christ, who else, theatre researcher Ken Takiguchi, music writer Jeremy Yew, art writer Wong May Yee, arts worker Ephraim Loy, writer Richard Lord... y'know, I'm going to get their titles mixed up soon so let's just assume they're all cool interesting intelligent people who've got something worth saying.

Ooh, and if you feel like doing a guest post, write to me and let's do it!

Child's Play (or why baby Jesus looks so strange)

Yo! Forgot to tell everyone that Alan Oei included me in this exhibition!

The opening's already over, but a series of my poems called "Matriline" is still hanging up there as if it's honest-to-goodness visual art. Go and have a look, since I can't. I also have personally illustrated copies of "last boy" on sale.



Child's Play (or why baby Jesus looks so strange)
Dates: 1 - 31 Apr 2010
Time: 630pm - 930pm
Venue: Evil Empire, 48 Niven Road S228396

Artists: :phunk, Andre Tan, Ang Song Ming, Charlotte Cain, Eudora Rusli, Huang Wei, Kosuke Misawa, Lynn Lu, Rebecca Lim, Tan Wee Lit, Zhao Renhui, Ng Yi-Sheng
Curator: Alan Oei

What the...?

It seems that at the end of last year, someone at the National Library created an Infopedia article about me.

http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1619_2009-12-21.html

Infopedia's an online database on Singapore topics. There's even a blog, called Infopedia Talk, where every new update of Infopedia is noted. The latest writer to be included is the horror and transsexual fantasy writer Joash Moo.

NUS Evening of Poetry and Music

I'm doing a reading on Sunday (not tomorrow! Sorry) at the Arts House Play Den, 6:45 to 9:30pm. Come if you can.



More info here.

SDP's Let's Talk



At the Ubud Writers' Festival, at a forum on Internet connectivity and freedom of speech, I polled the audience on whether I should agree to a web interview with SDP. (That's Singapore Democratic Party, an opposition party in Singapore, for those of you from abroad.)

Surprisingly, given that it's a human rights event, half the audience members said yes and the others said no. (Those who said no said they were scared I'd never get a government grant again.)

Anyway, I'd kind of made the decision already: the only good reason to say no would be that I was afraid. And the only way to change society is to live without fear.

But I'm talking out of my arse a little. The truth is, I hate listening to myself on recordings so much that I can't watch this clip. So I don't know what bits of the interview got selected.

Ooh, fun fact: the interview itself took place on my birthday last year, 25 November. The interviewer and the director, Chan Tee Lick and Seelan Palay, are both born on the same day. What're the odds?

Verse City

I should also mention that I did a column about the state of Singapore literature for Quill, a Kuala Lumpur-based literary magazine funded by MPH. It's online here at the official site, and also at editor Eric Forbes' site, where it has more comments.

There's going to be regular coverage on Singapore lit by Singapore residents/citizens. Amazingly, the magazine accepted my name for the column: "The Noise Downstairs". :)

Interview for South China Morning Post

I got this done during last year's Ubud Writers' and Readers' Festival. Click to read!

Esplanade Concourse Show!!

Hey guys, quick news: next Tuesday and Wednesday, I'll be performing poems from "last boy" at the Esplanade. I'll be accompanied by indie musicians Clarence and Sam, who've created songs based on poems from the book. (They're the main act, really.)



That's them, btw. Yes, Sam is short for Samantha.


Once again:

Tue 26 and Wed 27 January
7:15pm and 8:15pm (same show done twice)
Esplanade Concourse

B).

Three Cheers for ACT3!!!!

With my editor's permission, I reworked an article for my kids' newspaper into a story for The Online Citizen, paying tribute to Singapore's first professional theatre group on their 25th anniversary. (Hint: it's not TheatreWorks.)

Going clockwise from the top, that's Jasmin Sumaat Simon, Ruby Lim-Yang and Rama Chandran, from their first publicity photo in 1981. (Wah lau, they're old.)

Click here.

"Nostalgia"

My short story, "Nostalgia", has been uploaded on the Singapore culture site Five Foot Way. It's based on artist Michael Lee Hong Hwee's installation at the National Museum.

I'm not actually happy with the written version yet, so it's best if you listen to it in audio. It's supposed to be a little creepy. :)

(Image by Stephen Black).

@ School in Bengaluru!

As promised, here are photos from my workshop at Widia Poorna Pragna School:







And a few from Jnana Vijnana Vidyapeetha:










Sadly, no shots from the last school, whose name escapes me for the time being (though it was terribly posh). Camera breakdown, doncha know. The assistant teacher said she might mail me some, but don't hold your breath.

UPDATE: The last school's name was MES Kishore Kendra Public School. Wrote 'em all down in my notebook.

In Bengaluru now!

Did a school workshop yesterday at a Hindu-based school, and I'll be doing another in a couple of hours. Unfortunately, the battery on my camera has gone out (think I left it on by accident) and I didn't bring my charger. What's more, neither Adeline Foo nor Felix Cheong, the other Sg , have brought cameras themselves.

What's a compulsive archivist like me gonna do? Can't use PhotoBooth for everything. Can I?

Evening event tonight at Time Out bookstore on Cunningham Road. 6:30pm - we'll be talking about sensationalism and censorship in Singapore. Adeline Foo, who's a kid's writer, will be reading excerpts of her new racy ho-mo-sexual play!

Oh, and this really deserves a post of its own - but I've finally figured out where my Singaproe Art Show short story "Nostalgia" was uploaded. Click here to download the audio story.

I'm going to India!

Should've blogged about this before. Was featured in the Straits Times yesterday, in fact.

Basically, I'll be participating in the Bengaluru Habba and the Chennai Local. Here are my dates so far:

Tuesday, 15 December:
Literary Reading (with Felix Cheong and Adeline Foo)
Time Out Reliance book store
Bengaluru
6:30-8:00 pm.

Tuesday, 22 December,
Poetry reading
Spaces,
#1 Elliots Beach Road, Besant Nagar,
Chennai
7pm

I'll be back on Xmas eve if you all want to kacau me. Don't call my handphone, can?

The Jakarta Post owes me an itsy-bisty apology...

Alerted by Gwee Li Sui's Facebook notes! The Jakarta Post covered Singapore Writers Festival in this article, which included the following paragraph:

"There were almost 70 Singaporean literary luminaries directly participating in events, including established writers like Catherine Lim (The Bondmaid, 1995), a self-described “incorrigible, unstoppable storyteller”, and de-facto poet laureate Edwin Thumboo (Ulysses by the Merlion, 1979) to emerging talents like Wena Poon, who won the Singapore Literature Prize for her debut novel Lions in Winter."

Well, as most of you know:

1. "Lions in Winter" is a collection of short stories, not a novel.

2. Wena's debut novel was actually the self-published sci-fi thriller "Biophilia".

3. She didn't win the SLP. She was shortlisted the same year that, ahem, I won. (She was my favourite to win, though.)

Wena's pretty pissed at them too. They referred to her latest book, "The Proper Care of Foxes", as a romance.

Speaking of literary gossip, there's been an intriguing spate happening between NUS English student Nicholas Liu and Gilbert Koh, a banker who also goes by the nom de blog of Mr Wang.

Basically, Nicholas did a QLRS review of Gilbert's first collection of poems, "Two Baby Hands". It's a very, very cutting review, but I have to say I agree with the points made - I've got a certain style and approach to poetry, after all.

Gilbert, however, hasn't handled the criticism well. And it's quite natural to be upset - I'm always upset when I read bad or even mediocre reviews of my theatre work. But he got really - well - snarky and ad hominemly defensive in his responses: see here, here and here.

I dormed with Gilbert at the Pulau Ubin writers' retreat, so I can say he's a pretty nice guy in person. His poetry's a hell of a lot more accessible than mine, too.

But he's gotta learn something: almost all coverage is good coverage. More people are going to check out his book because of the review, and a lot of them are going to like the book. And the controversy caused by this is making more people think about our work in new ways.

Now if only Jakarta Post would write something, good or bad, about me...

I haven't mentioned, have I, that I've set up another Flying Circus Project blog?

It's on Wordpress this time. Go to http://flyingcircusproject.wordpress.com.

B).

expo zéro by Musée de la Danse

I'm serving as the official documenter for this! It's on this Saturday and Sunday, 1-6pm, at 72-13/TheatreWorks. Drop by if you can!


TheatreWorks / 72-13 presents

Flying Circus Project Platform 01: expo zéro by Musée de la Danse

The first-ever dancing museum in Singapore hosted by the Flying Circus Project, expo zéro is a unique exhibition without objects conceived by acclaimed French choreographer, Boris Charmatz and Musée de la Danse.

expo zéro is only open on two days: 7 & 8 November at 72-13 between 1pm and 6pm.

An `exhibition' project with no photographs, no sculptures, no installations, no videos. Zero things, not one stable object. But artists, and areas occupied by gestures, projects, bodies, stories, dances which everyone will choose to imagine.

In the process spirit of the Flying Circus Project (FCP) conceived by Ong Keng Sen, expo zéro is a kind of 'think tank' through analysis, description, performance, movements and ideas which each guide-artist will develop with the audience. This comes at a timely occasion as Singapore has no dancehouse (tanzhaus, dansens hus, centre chorégraphique national), a question which TheatreWorks / 72-13 is presently pondering.

expo zéro is headed by Boris Charmatz in collaboration with dancers-choreographers, François Chaignuad, Mette Ingvartsen and actor-director Yves-Noël Genod. In Singapore, it collaborates with Asian artists, architects, theorists of FCP 2010 like Padmini Chettur, Heman Chong, Torrance Goh of FARM, Donna Miranda, Joavien Ng and Ong Keng Sen.
For all bios, please go to www.theatreworks.org.sg / www.72-13.com

Visitors will experience these individuals' visions, subjective and utopian, of what a dancing museum can be.

Join us and be part of expo zéro now!

EVENT INFORMATION

Flying Circus Project Platform 01
expo zéro by Musée de la Danse

Date: 7 & 8 November 2009
Musée hours: 1pm – 6pm daily
Venue: 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road
Admission: Free

Please call 6737-7213 or email tworks@singnet.com.sg to register your attendance.

For more information:

www.theatreworks.org.sg
www.72-13.com

Still at Singapore Writers Festival...

And informing you of changes to events I'm involved in! Yes, I'm still in all the events I blogged about earlier, and right now I'm specifically working on the walking tour I'm doing for the Library's Experiencing Singapore Literature.

But the final event, the launch of the "Tumasik" anthology, has been moved up to Friday, just after the Golden Point Awards. Come for the free food, if for nothing else.

Will also be at the Creative Writing Experience, talking about my Survivor Ubin experience. More on that later. ;)

30 Oct 2009, 6:00 pm
Launch of Tumasik: Contemporary Writing from Singapore

Price: Free
Venue : Play Den

Co-published with the Iowa Writing Program, University of Iowa, the anthology Tumasik features the works of Singapore’s finest writers hailing from the four official languages of English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Edited by poet Alvin Pang, the anthology includes Singaporean writers such as Anuar Othman, Madeleine Lee, Quah Sy Ren, Johar Buang, Toh Hsien Min, Kirpal Singh, Verena Tay, MK Narayanan, Latha and Wong Yoon Wah.

Event end: 7.30pm

31 Oct 2009, 6:00 pm
The Creative Writing Experience

Price: Free
Venue : The Hall

Featuring: Alvin Pang, Suchen Christine Lim

This October, 15 Singaporean writers are taking part in a week-long creative writing camp on Pulau Ubin, based on the renowned Arvon retreats in the United Kingdom and organised by Catalyst Central, a not-for-profit arts initiative directed by Alvin Pang and Fong Hoe Fang. Some of the participants and tutors will share their camp experiences and discuss the value of structured writing residencies in sharpening writing skills. You can also find out about how you can participate in future creative writing residencies!

Event end: 7pm

In collaboration with British Council and Catalyst Central