Starry Island: New Writing from Singapore

by Frank Stewart (Series Editor), Fiona Sze-Lorrain (Guest Editor), Yu-Mei Balasingamchow (Contributor)

In 2015, Singapore celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of its independence. From its founding as a British colony with no natural resources, the country has transformed itself into one of the most urbanized and prosperous nations in the world. Just as remarkable is the harmonious diversity of the people who identify themselves as Singaporeans—a fusion of ethnicities, languages, religions, and places of origin.

Starry Island presents essays, fiction, and poetry by two dozen contemporary writers whose stories of Singapore express the complex tensions and interconnections of this anomalous, confounding, and paradoxical society. These fresh and accomplished works range from meditative essays to magical realist fiction and lyric poetry.

Contributing writers include Yu-Mei Balasingamchow, Kim Cheng Boey, Grace Chua, Dan Ying, Jeffrey Greene, Philip Jeyaretnam, Khoo Seok Wan, Amanda Lee Koe, Jee Leong Koh, Desmond Kon, Karen Kwek, Shirley Geok-lin Lim, Nicholas Liu, Jason Erik Lundberg, Christopher Mooney-Singh, Eleanor Neo, Ng Yi-Sheng, O Thiam Chin, Wena Poon, Alfian Sa'at, Toh Hsien Min, Cyril Wong, Wong Yoon Wah, and Jerrold Yam.

The volume includes photographs of Singapore's spectacular contemporary architecture and portraits of early twentieth-century Chinese and Peranakan families.

226 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2014

Reviews

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

This should really be sub-titled Not-so-new Writing from Singapore to Americans since most contributions have been published and/or aren't that recent, plus there's the strange inclusion of Lundberg and Greene (there are way more interesting expats or travellers). The prose far outweighs the poetry in quality, which is a reflection of Singapore literature, with my favourite contributions coming from Boey, Alfian and especially Balasingamchow. An overall semi-decent introduction to recent Singapore literature, with unnecessary historical photographs and footnotes.

[mm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not at all a collection I would recommend. Not sure what the editor was aiming for in the choice and spread.