&Words: Poems Singapore and Beyond

by Edwin Thumboo (Editor and Contributor), Richard Ong, Boey Kim Cheng

Anthologies are well-established institutions. They are especially useful in promoting interest in poetry. &Words: Poems Singapore and Beyond attempts to do so through a fresh approach. First, it provides a selection of Singapore poems in English, arranged in four broad sections: Identity, Homeland, Living, Words. Second, the selection includes poems in World Englishes which suggest their wide variety as well as how the shared experience of colonialism and the recovery from it, often generates a number of common responses. They offer opportunities to compare poems. Third, there are translations from Chinese, Malay, and Tamil, reminding readers that Singapore poetry is more than just that in English. Finally a section ‘Four Short Forms: Couplet, Haiku, Quatrain, Pantun’ to encourage teachers and students to try their hand at writing.

&Words features 170 poems by 73 Singapore poets and 35 overseas poets. It is hoped that this selection will add to the growing interest in Singapore literature, particularly its poetry.

Genres: Poetry

264 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Edwin Thumboo, Emeritus Professor and Professorial Fellow, National University of Singapore, has been involved in Singapore’s literary developments since 1951: editing, anthologising, initiating programmes (eg Creative Arts Programme with the Ministry of Education), running a poetry column in The Straits Times, teaching a degree-level creative writing course etc. He published Rib of Earth (1956), Gods Can Die (1977), Ulysses by the Merlion (1979), A Third Map (1993), Friend (2003), Still Traveling (2008), and Bring the Sun (poems from out-of-print volumes; 2008). He is working on a volume of translations into Chinese, as well as a Selected Poems due to appear in 2012. Studies of his work include Ee Tiang Hong, Responsibility and Commitment: The Poetry of Edwin Thumboo (1997) and Peter Nazareth, Edwin Thumboo: Creating a Nation through Poetry (2008), Essays on Edwin Thumboo has contributions by Jonathan Webster (editor), Thiru Kandiah, Wong Phui Nam and Lily Tope. He has edited Seven Poets: Singapore/Malaysia, An Anthology (1973), The Second Tongue: An Anthology of Poetry from Malaysia and Singapore (1979), and was General Editor for the Anthology of ASEAN Literatures: The Poetry of Singapore (1985), and The Fiction of Singapore (1990). He received the National Book Development Council of Singapore, Book Award for Poetry in English (1978, 1980 and 1994), Southeast Asian Writers Award (1979), Singapore’s Cultural Medallion (1980), ASEAN Cultural and Communication Award in Literature (1987), the Raja Rao Award (2002), and the Meritorious Service Medal, Singapore (2006). A Fellow of the International Writing Program, University of Iowa (1977), he has given readings in various universities and international literary festivals and book fairs.