Phedra

by Euginia Tan

Phedra is a poetry collection of re-interpreted mythology – with an emphasis on female identity – which delves into the juxtaposition of idolatry and banality.

Genres: Poetry

84 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

Euginia Tan has self-published two collections of poetry, Songs About Girls and Playing Pretty. She was in the NAC Mentor Access Programme 2013 (mentored by Grace Chia-Krakovic) and Curating Lab 2014 under Heman Chong and NUS Museum. She is also the curator for the Visual Arts Development and Association by Chan Hampe Galleries from 2015 to 2016. In 2016, she wrote her first play, Holidays (performed in 2016) under the mentorship of Joel Tan.

Reviews

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection is all about women's experience in a contemporary society. Daughters, girlfriends, mothers, sisters, lovers....every aspect is covered! Some poems are quite striking, but on the whole, the poetry holds an uneven standard. I'm looking forward to future collections of Tan, where she most probably will have found a reliable and confident style.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

The poetry reads like a narrative style, and I liked that she incorporates many aspects of her personal life in a tender and confessional way. I do find, however, that the writing lacks intentionality in terms of language and word choice, and the images rather disjointed. I also felt the poems could be arranged in a more systematic manner with a clear group of classification.