The Second Tongue: An Anthology of Poetry from Malaysia and Singapore

by Edwin Thumboo (Editor And Introduction), Ee Tiang Hong (Contributor), Wong Phui Nam (Contributor)

This anthology brings together the most significant poetry in English from Malaysia and Singapore written over the last twenty-five years.

It includes substantial selections from the work of Ee Tiang Hong, Muhammad Haji Salleh, Lee Izu Pheng, Gon Poh Seng, Wong Phui Nam, Edwin Thumboo, Wong May, Chandran Nair, Arthur Yap, Omar Mohd. Noor, Hilary Tham, Robert Yeo and Chung Yee Chong as well as poetry by less well-known, or younger, poets some of whom have not been published extensively before.

The introduction by Dr Edwin Thumboo provides an historical perspective which traces the growth of poetry writing in English in the two countries and serves to introduce the writing to both students and the general reader.

The Second Tongue is likely to remain the definitive anthology of the poetry of this period with the added significance that it appears at a time when the relationship between English and the other languages in Malaysia and Singapore is rapidly changing.

Genres: Poetry

198 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

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.

Reviews

[Ladislav · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beside the occasional piece by Muhammad Haji Salleh – who often brings social commentary to his colourful depictions of Malaysian idylls – few of the poems really stood out to me.