Arts...Travels...Writing

Inspired by a BookRiot tip, I've decided to start cataloguing the books I've just read. Unlike in years past, I would say that I've started the year right as far as catching up on reading is concerned (I am a certified book hoarder with shelves of books still waiting to be read!!!). I managed to read three in January...though I must say that not all of them have been pleasurable reads. I'll start with my favourite, one that I genuinely enjoyed reading, Icelandic Halldor Laxness's IndependentPeople, supposedly the masterpiece that secured him a Nobel Prize. Though vast in scope, what makes this book a stand-out for me is largely its remarkable protagonist, the supremely stoic Bjartur, a highly developed character like no other. As the book's introduction has captured well, Bjartur is that immortal literary character not unlike Jay Gatsby (The Great Gatsby) or Gregor Samsa (Kafka's Metamorphosis), a character that sticks with the reader, long after one has ...

Another grassroots poetry writing activity came into the literary scene recently via Text in the City, an Arts House and NAC campaign "to boost the awareness and appreciation of Singapore poetry." Among poetry fora, Text in the City is unique in that it has a corresponding App, which in today's tech-driven world makes participation relatively easier. I checked out the site and found out that the only requirement is for the poem entry to be about places in Singapore, and that the poet has to be a resident of Singapore (Citizen or Permanent Resident). So I penned a couple of poems and shared them using the app. You can click on the links below if you'd like to read them: https://textinthecity.sg/poems/565 http://textinthecity.sg/poems/438 As of today hundreds of poems have already been posted - after SingPoWriMo, here's another testament to the fact that Singapore poetry is truly alive! and this number will only continue to grow as the activity ...

Singapore Poetry Writing Month or SingPoWriMo is a curious phenomenon in the literary scene: it started out in the virtual world (a Facebook group set up in April), where members/poets of every stripe, young and old, veterans and emerging were challenged to respond to daily prompts during the "cruel month of April" aka Poetry Month. Many of the prompts were deeply challenging: Day 1 for example involved the use of 6 words including debauched, trade, exclusive, Day 4 encouraged the use of one-syllable poems, Day 16 was the writing in a different language and dialect, and so on . Clearly these kept the poets engaged as new poems cropped up everyday in response to the prompts. By the end of the month, the group eventually grew to more than 450 members, collectively producing hundreds of poems.  Apart from the sharing of poems, there was too a lively exchange of thoughts on the site - many members were actively engaged, going beyond mere "liking", and responding to o...

Stoner has been described as "a little novel that could." While the book was first published some fifty years back, I have only started hearing about it late last year, when it seemed to have a resurgence especially in Europe. Stoner as a character is the most stoic I have ever encountered; even in the post-war era where simplicity was perhaps the norm, his brand of stoicism was probably quite extreme, and more so if put against today's landscape - he owns just a few pieces of clothing, lives in a spartan room, and hardly expresses what he felt. Today's emoticons would be lost on him! The novel has a relatively simple story arc as compared to today's literary fictions, but I was kept engaged, rooting for Stoner to overcome the many travails along his life path. One could admire him for his resilience in many ways, although he is by no means a perfect saint (no spoiler alert here, but the source of conflicts that John Williams had planted were highly probable an...

It's literary time - here's a poem I wrote after my friends' visit earlier this year. THE OTHER SIDE We went From proving theorems To proving life As we explored The modern edifices We forget about the scruffy past But What remains is Our fondness for each other It doesn’t matter if XX years had passed  Whenever we meet again It is still the same She still teases him of his nose Or his scary laughter And he teases her of her mumps Or her unruly hair We still eat with much gusto Albeit now it’s done in a more decent restaurant Rather than the shabby university cafeteria We still jump too high Even if at the back of our minds We now worry about our High cholesterol High blood sugar High risk of cardio attack We had fun for three days or so And now in the aftermath There is quietness That wants to be filled With The most energetic of laughters Let’s not wait for another thousand years Because th...