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Inspector Inspector
Jee Leong Koh writes out of the heart of a contemporary reality most readers are familiar with at second or third hand. He writes of political exile and spiritual homelessness; he understands the perils of war, and the perils of certain kinds of peace. Inspector Inspector is his second Carcanet book (Steep Tea was published in 2015 and chosen as a Best Book of the Year in the Financial Times), and it develops his earlier themes with authority, passion and a sense of possible justice.
Steep Tea dialogued with women poets from across the world; Inspector Inspector struggles with the legacies of fathers, personal, poetic and political. Threaded through the erotic poems and poems based on interviews with fellow Singaporeans living in America are thirteen palinodes in the voice of the speaker's dead father, which he answers when the father's voice falls silent.
Jee Leong Koh's is an inclusive, generous and forgiving imagination, with an enviable mastery of traditional and experimental forms.
Steep Tea dialogued with women poets from across the world; Inspector Inspector struggles with the legacies of fathers, personal, poetic and political. Threaded through the erotic poems and poems based on interviews with fellow Singaporeans living in America are thirteen palinodes in the voice of the speaker's dead father, which he answers when the father's voice falls silent.
Jee Leong Koh's is an inclusive, generous and forgiving imagination, with an enviable mastery of traditional and experimental forms.
- GenresPoetry
88 pages, Paperback
Published August 25, 2022
10 people want to read
About the author
Jee Leong Koh
24 books185 followersJee Leong Koh is the author of Steep Tea (Carcanet), named a Best Book of the Year by UK's Financial Times and a Finalist by Lambda Literary in the USA. His hybrid work of fiction, Snow at 5 PM: Translations of an insignificant Japanese poet, won the 2022 Singapore Literature Prize in English fiction. He was also shortlisted for the prize for The Pillow Book (Math Paper Press/Awai Books) and Connor and Seal (Sibling Rivalry). His second Carcanet book, Inspector Inspector, was published in late 2022.
Koh's work has been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Malay, Vietnamese, Russian, and Latvian. Originally from Singapore, Koh lives in New York City, where he heads the literary non-profit Singapore Unbound, the indie press Gaudy Boy, and the journal of Asian writing and art SUSPECT.
Koh's work has been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Malay, Vietnamese, Russian, and Latvian. Originally from Singapore, Koh lives in New York City, where he heads the literary non-profit Singapore Unbound, the indie press Gaudy Boy, and the journal of Asian writing and art SUSPECT.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 1, 2022
Another emotionally powerful collection of poetry. Koh continues to push himself as an artist.
Even amidst loss, these well-crafted poems daring & dangerous. Many of these intimate poems are about the illness & death of Koh's father, and speak of the silences that populate the complex relationship between fathers and sons.
The section entitled "from A Simple History of Singaporeans in America," is a collection of ten poems that capture the complicated relationships that exiles are burdened with, living between two countries, trying to create and forge identities. At times surreal & playful, other poems pay homage to political leaders, friends, lovers & sexual encounters, as well as other poets.
One of my favorite poems is "Palinode in the Voice of My Dead Father (VII)." Palinodes, according to the Poetry Foundation is ode or song that retracts or recants what the poet wrote in a previous poem. There are thirteen Palinodes in the voice of Koh's dead father. Number VII speaks of the sacrifices parents make & the dreams they suppress in the name of love & duty, to provide for family & country (and in this case the son who goes off to write his poetry books). It ends with the line
Much as I wished
to do likewise,
throw down
the weight of duty,
I could not
run away
from the sweet potato
I had eaten.
The collection closes with the heart wrenching "The Reply," which is written in response to the thirteen palinodes. The poem opens with the line "You're silent now, and it's no surprise,/you've been a silent movie all my life."
Even amidst loss, these well-crafted poems daring & dangerous. Many of these intimate poems are about the illness & death of Koh's father, and speak of the silences that populate the complex relationship between fathers and sons.
The section entitled "from A Simple History of Singaporeans in America," is a collection of ten poems that capture the complicated relationships that exiles are burdened with, living between two countries, trying to create and forge identities. At times surreal & playful, other poems pay homage to political leaders, friends, lovers & sexual encounters, as well as other poets.
One of my favorite poems is "Palinode in the Voice of My Dead Father (VII)." Palinodes, according to the Poetry Foundation is ode or song that retracts or recants what the poet wrote in a previous poem. There are thirteen Palinodes in the voice of Koh's dead father. Number VII speaks of the sacrifices parents make & the dreams they suppress in the name of love & duty, to provide for family & country (and in this case the son who goes off to write his poetry books). It ends with the line
Much as I wished
to do likewise,
throw down
the weight of duty,
I could not
run away
from the sweet potato
I had eaten.
The collection closes with the heart wrenching "The Reply," which is written in response to the thirteen palinodes. The poem opens with the line "You're silent now, and it's no surprise,/you've been a silent movie all my life."
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April 21, 2023Jee is a friend and former classmate. I am in awe of his intellect, dedication and facility with language. A distinctive and important voice for our times. Should you ever rate a mate? He has a five star imagination, but at present I am only a three star reader! So much to ponder.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews