Deeds of Light

by Tse Hao Guang

Shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize 2016 for English Poetry

The city is a prism through which ordinary life, at first a seeming undifferentiated white, splits into its constituent colours. In Deeds of Light, words are prisms through which experiences are revealed. Belying a desire to make new and bright the usual ways of talking about place and belonging, these poems in both form and content navigate the myriad ways in which the sound of speech and the habits of culture interact and assert themselves.

Genres: Poetry

53 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2015

About the author

Hao Guang Tse (谢皓光) is the author of The International Left-Hand Calligraphy Association (Tinfish Press, 2022) and Deeds of Light (Math Paper Press, 2015), the latter shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize. He is a 2016 fellow of the University of Iowa's International Writing Program, and the 2018 National Writer-in-Residence at Nanyang Technological University. His poems have been featured in Poem-a-Day, Tammy, New Delta Review, Pain, Minarets, Big Other, Hotel, Asian American Writers' Workshop, Entropy and elsewhere. He was born and raised in Singapore, where he continues to live and work.

Reviews

[Angelin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second collection of poetry by Tse Hao Guang, of which the first collection is "Hyperlinkage", I could see the maturing of style in his new collection. His poetry has depth, has layers of meaning, and as usual, I have a few favourites, of which "Serendipitously" takes first place.

[Skye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deeds of Light was very refreshing to read! I liked it more than Hyperlinkage. Loved the turn of phrases & imagery evoked.

My favourites from this collection includes Leaping (winking ixora), the Tai Chi Master, and maybe The Handyman.

And this:
"The sun is wilder than a lion and sweet as honey
dripped from my neck."

Simple, elegant and lush. Makes you want to find it on Tumblr and reblog it like mad, because it's so pretty. Haha.