First Reads: Never Before—50 Essential Poems

After two years of extensive archival and library research, 50 defining poems of Singapore Chinese literary history have been compiled into one anthology titled Never Before—50 Essential Poems. Diverse, eclectic and sometimes unconventional, these poems capture voices that break from the mainstream and diverge from past representations of what Singapore literature is supposed to be. Read a selection of the poems here!

 

Never Before -- 50 Essential Poems, edited by Ang Jin Yong, Gu Xing Zi, Tan Boon Hui

 

诗组:自以为是的现代
黄文杰
 
传统
六万五千四百三十元的广告
和一块月饼
 
办公楼电梯
上,郁闷的早晨
下,心急的夕阳
 
快餐
停止呼吸的垃圾
快速拼凑
还在呼吸的垃圾
 
公共电话
汪丽贞
 
我用一角钱
买了三分钟的时间
 
又用一只耳朵
交换了一则破碎的故事
 
时与空之间
没有情愫
所以我不得不低头
再找到一枚铜币
用另外三分钟的时间
赎回我的一角钱

 
爽约——默唱一首岁月之歌(重复无聊的一种形式)
方伟成 

岁月在窗外

窗外的岁月正在外头

在窗的外头

 

生活在窗台上

窗台上的生活站着

窗的外头

窗的外头

岁- 岁- 月- 月——

 

月与月之间

正如岁与岁之间

一样的碎掉的

一样的碎掉的

岁月就在窗的外头

  等待着

等待着  等待

 

生活就在窗台上站着

  打量

以及外头的岁月

以及外头的碎掉的

 

 

没有感觉

没有感觉

岁  岁  月  月

岁与岁,月与月

 

Never Before50 Essential Poems is forthcoming and will be available for sale online, in bookstores, and at the Singapore Writers Festival House on 2 November 2018.

 

About the editors

Andy Ang (Gu Xing Zi) is a poet and educator who founded TrendLit literary society, publisher of literary journal WhyNot (不为什么). Most of his works are published in Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. His poetry collections include After Commotion and Destroy All Gods. He edited the anthologies, In The Space of A Poem (2015–2017) and Never Before – 50 Essential Poems.

Ang Jin Yong goes by the pen name 空·龙猫 (loosely translated as Sky Totoro). He is editor-in-chief of WhyNot, a Singapore-based Chinese literary magazine. When it comes to writing poetry, Jin Yong takes his cue from Zhang Wuji, the famous pugilist from Louis Cha’s wuxia novel, believing that in order to bring out the best in one’s craft, one has to completely forget the techniques one has learnt.

Born in Singapore in 1991, Tan Boon Hui uses the pen name Buni (布妮). She has received a BA (Honours) from the Chinese Department of Nanyang Technological University. She is the event organiser of In the Space of a Poem 2016, a literary writing platform on Facebook, and the chief editor for In the Space of a Poem: Second Edition (2016).